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ECLECTIC  EDUCATIONAL  SERip.S 


THE 


SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION 


DESIGNED   AS   A   TEXT-BOOK   FOR  TEACHERS 


BY 


FRANCIS  B.  PALMER,  Ph.D. 
Principal  of  State  Normal  School,  Fredonia,  N.  Y, 


VAN  ANTWERP,  BRAGG  &  CO. 

CINCINNATI  AND  NEW  YORK 


*•*       •  •  •• •  • 


/ 


vV 


Copyright,   1887,  by  Van  Antwerp,  Bragg  &  Co, 


£DUCAT»Oli  tMH^o 


ftcUctit  $rt80 


PREFACE, 


The  general  idea  and  purpose  of  this  work  are  presented  in  the 
Introduction.  But  while  it  was  designed  in  the  first  place  to  lay 
a  foundation  for  the  development  of  Methods  of  Teaching  for 
those  who  are  preparing  themselves  for  the  work  of  the  school- 
room, the  principles  and  laws  developed  are  no  less  applicable 
to  public  speaking,  family  training,  and  every  other  influence  by 
which  thought,  feeling,  or  voluntary  action  is  developed  or 
molded. 

The  main  lines  of  thought,  and  the  form  of  the  work  as  a  Science 
of  Education  are  new.  This  has  not  been  sought  for  the  sake  of 
novelty,  nor  to  make  it  appear  that  there  is  need  of  the  work  ;  but, 
because  it  has  been  so  universally  felt  that  there  was  need  of  a 
work  radically  different  from  any  thing  that  existed,  this  method 
of  treating  the  subject  was  adopted,  although  it  was  new.  But, 
because  the  field  was  new,  it  is  not  expected  that  it  is  free  from 
errors  that  will  expose  it  to  just  criticism,  and  because  the  end  in 
view  is  truth,  criticism  is  not  deprecated.  If  it  shall  lead  some  one 
to  correct  its  errors,  and  carry  its  truths  to  more  important  con- 
clusions, it  will  have  accomplished  its  greatest  good. 

It  only  remains  for  me  to  express  my  sense  of  obligation  to  the 
Publishers  for  many  acts  of  courtesy  and  real  kindness  in  preparing 
to  present  the  work  in  an  appropriate  form;  and  to  Dr.  Lemuel 
Moss,  a  college  classmate  and  esteemed  friend,  for  important  criti- 
cisms and  suggestions. 


Fredonia,  N.  Y.,  September,  1887. 


54. i  248 


CONTENTS. 


PAOE 

Introduction, 7 

PART  I. 

GENERAL  CONSIDERATION  OF  EDUCATION  AS  A  SCIENCE. 

Chapter  I. 
Law,  Principle,  and  Rule ;  and  Science,  Art,  and  Philosophy 

Distinguished,       .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .17 

Chapter  II. 
Explanation  of  Terms, 26 

Chapter  III. 
What  is  Education,         . 35 

Chapter  IV. 
Reflective  Consciousness, 40 

Chapter  V. 
Unconscious  Beginnings, 44 

Chapter  VI. 
The  Mental  Faculties, 57 

Chapter  VII. 
General  Law  of  Mental  Development,     .....       62 


PART  II. 

special  laws  of  mental  development. 

Chapter  I. 

Laws  of  Physiological  Relations,     ......       69 

(5) 


6  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Chapter  II. 
Laws  of  Reflective  Consciousness, g^ 

Chapter  III. 
Native  Activity, -^ 

Chapter  IV. 
Discrimination, 122 

Chapter  V. 
Unification, j.g 

Chapter  VI. 
Correlation  and  Degradation, ,rg 

Chapter  VII. 
Sequence,        • j-q 

Chapter  VIII. 
Attention, jgj 

Chapter  IX. 
Exercise 100 

Chapter  X. 
Limitations, 205 


PART  III. 
development  of  the  several  faculties. 

Chapter  I. 
Cognitions, 215 

Chapter  II. 
Feelings, 247 

Chapter  III. 
^Vill 284 

Concluding  Chapter, 316 


INTRODUCTION. 


Not  to  be  studied  critically,  but  to  be  read  carefully. 


HE  purpose  of  this  Introduction  is  to 

bring  the  reader  to  the  point  of  view  from 
which  the  following  treatise  was  conceived. 
This  will  most  readily  and  naturally  be 
effected  by  setting  forth  the  way  in  which 
the  author  was  himself  led  to  this  point  of  view;  hence 
an  allusion  to  personal  experience  seems  necessary,  which 
would  otherwise  have  no  significance. 

2.  It  has  been  common  to  base  methods  of  teaching  on  the 
science  of  Psychology.  The  end  which  these  methods  have 
in  view  is  the  development  of  the  mind  to  what  Psychology 
declares  it  ought  to  be.  The  one  universal  law  of  meth- 
ods is  growth  by  exercise.  According  to  this  the  study 
of  methods  becomes  an  inquiry  into  the  best  means  and 
manner  of  exercising  the  various  mental  faculties.  Grant 
that  this  fairly  well  marks  out  the  province  of  methods, 
what  help  can  Psychology  give  in  such  an  inquiry?  It 
names  the  faculties  to  be  exercised,  but  it  does  not  tell 
how  to  exercise  them,  which  is  what  methods  seek  to 
know.  In  the  first  place,  the  science  of  Psychology  is 
the  science  of  an  accomplished  result,  the  mind  in  a  de- 
veloped state;  methods  of  teaching  apply  to  the  process 
by  which  that  result  is  reached.     Psychology  is  a  test  of 

(7) 


•B  .    '/   :   '/link   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

viiefhods  ;put  dit'tb  practice,  but  furnishes  no  principle  to 
determine  what  they  shall  be.  To  make  the  science  of 
Psychology  the  basis  of  the  art  of  methods  is  like  making 
the  science  of  Botany  the  basis  of  the  art  of  farming. 
There  must  be  a  science  of  agriculture  apart  from  the 
science  of  vegetable  growths,  or  systematic  farming  is 
impossible.  In  the  second  place,  the  same  subjects  and 
methods  of  study  apply  equally  well  to  the  exercise  of 
different  faculties,  so  that  the  classifications  of  Psychology 
do  not  furnish  fundamental  distinctions  for  methods. 
Methods  must  be  subject  to  the  test  of  developing  all  the 
faculties,  but  do  not  necessarily  vary  to  correspond  with 
them. 

3.  When  the  author  of  this  work  was  compelled  by  his 
position  as  teacher  of  Didactics  about  twenty  years  ago 
to  give  critical  attention  to  the  foundation  principles  of 
the  teacher's  profession,  the  above  difficulties  presented 
themselves  to  him,  and  he  asked  if  there  was  not  a 
science  of  the  process  of  mental  development,  apart 
from  the  science  of  Psychology;  a  science  of  mental 
growth,  on  which  the  art  of  methods  might  be  founded. 
Much  had  been  done  by  educational  writers  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  important  principles  of  their  profession,  but 
there  was  no  systematic  treatise  that  was  recognized  as 
setting  forth  the  processes  of  mental  growth  in  scientific 
form.  The  greatest  want  seemed  to  be  a  starting-point, 
a  general  law  that  would  unify  and  harmonize  all  the 
principles  that  had  been  developed  into  a  consistent 
whole.  To  find  such  a  law  was  the  first  effort.  In  his 
search  the  author  first  began  to  study  the  steps  of  his 
own  mental  advancement.  He  had  always  considered  it 
the  most  helpful  thing  ever  done  for  his  own  education 
that  as  soon  as  he  had  learned  to  read  he  was  set  to 
learn    the  classification   of  letters   and    the    analysis    of 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

words,  as  laid  down  in  the  first  part  of  his  spelling- 
book.  A  habit  of  analytic  thinking  was  thus  established, 
which  from  that  time  made  analysis  as  easy  and  natural 
as  reading  a  story.  Two  years  later,  a  winter's  work  in 
trying  to  master  Arithmetic  to  the  Rule  of  Three  made 
exercise  in  combining  numbers  equally  easy  and  natural. 
Habits  of  analytic  and  of  synthetic  reasoning  seemed  i 
firmly  established,  and  on  these  two  processes  depend) 
all  thought.  But  whatever  might  be  involved  in  these 
processes,  as  yet  there  seemed  to  be  no  unifying  principle 
between  them  to  use  as  the  foundation  of  a  science,  and 
they  had  not  been  made  to  cover  the  ground  of  percep- 
tion and  the  other  lower  faculties  of  the  mind. 

4.  Beginning  next  with  perception,  the  lowest  act  of 
consciousness,  it  was  not  far  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
consciousness  of  difference,  or  discrimination,  is  the  first 
distinct  mental  act.  This  act  seemed  to  correspond  to 
analysis  in  the  higher  faculties.  But  discrimination  is 
net  merely  the  perception  of  different  things,  —  it  is  the 
perception  of  things  as  different.  This  implies  com- 
parison,, and  comparison  implies  a  class  to  which  the 
things  compared  belong.  To  make  a  discrimination,  the 
mind  must  develop  a  sense  of  unity.  The  possibility  of 
discrimination  implies  a  capacity  for  unification.  Objects 
that  differ  are  what  they  are  without  reference  to  each 
other.  They  are  put  together  only  in  thought,  and  this 
can  come  only  from  a  natural  tendency  in  the  mind  itself 
to  unify.  But  unification  is  essentially  synthesis,  and  we 
are  thus  brought  to  a  view  of  all  mental  development  as 
a  discrimination  of  objects  under  such  unities  as  the  mind 
is  capable  of  developing  from  the  tendencies  involved  in 
its  own  constitution.  This  thought  was  somewhat  elab- 
orated in  a  short  paper  read  at  a  teachers'  association, 
and  the  essay  is  presented  here,  with  a  few  omissions  for 


lO  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

brevity,   because  the  work  which   follows  takes  its  start 
from  this  point. 

Analysis  and  Synthesis  in  the  Exercise  of  the 
Understanding. 

5.  It  is  the  natural  effort  of  the  mind  to  seek  to  unify 
thought.  This  is  its  bent,  so  to  speak.  As  a  young 
shoot,  bent  from  its  upright  position,  ever  seeks  to  bend 
back  to  its  normal  direction,  upward  towards  the  sun,  so 
the  mind,  when  drawn  to  distinguish  between  this  and 
that,  ever  struggles  to  build  up  this  and  that  into  a  unity 
together  and  into  a  unity  with  itself.  Whether  we  are 
able  to  explain  this  tendency  or  not,  it  manifests  itself 
as  a  fact  in  all  the  operations  of  the  mind. 

6.  In  perception,  we  classify  objects  into  larger  and 
larger  groups,  always  seeking  for  a  common  thought  that 
is  bound  up  in  each  individual,  by  which  we  may  think 
them  all  together  as  one.  In  memory,  all  conscious  ex- 
periences are  associated  together  into  such  a  consolidated 
unit  that  when  one  of  these  experiences  is  brought  back 
into  conscious  remembrance,  that  will  bring  another,  and 
another  will  follow  in  the  train,  and  the  mind  will  go  on 
and  on,  seeking,  as  it  were,  to  complete  in  conscious 
memory  a  unity  of  all  past  experiences.  All  the  laws  of 
memory  have  for  their  basis  the  common  principle  of  an 
underlying  unity  in  the  association  of  thoughts.  In 
imagination  the  mind  makes  pictures,  more  or  less  har- 
monious, always  as  units.  In  the  act  of  comparison, — 
which  is  the  basis  of  judgment  and  reasoning, — things 
are  unified;  while  in  judgment  and  reasoning,  the  con- 
clusion is  nothing  but  an  identification.  In  the  first 
place,  then,  we  must  say  that  synthesis  is  a  natural 
impulse  of  the  mind,  spontaneously  following  the  appre- 
hension of  things  that  are  different. 


INTRODUCTION.  II 

7.  The  unification  spoken  of  is  a  unification  of  thought 
and  not  of  things.  The  sun  and  his  attendant  planets 
are  held  in  mind  as  one,  and  we  call  them  the  solar 
system.  But  they  are  not  seen  as  one  in  the  same  way 
by  the  shepherd  lad  who  looks  upon  them  only  as  he 
looks  upon  the  other  specks  in  space.  To  him  they  are 
only  stars.  The  planets  do  not  of  themselves  form  a 
unit,  but  the  relations  between  them,  which  the  mind 
alone  sees,  is  the  bond  by  which  they  are  unit-ed;  or, 
as  we  say,  united.  In  these  relations  they  exist  as  in  a 
medium  every-where  identical,  which  belongs  neither  to 
one  nor  to  another,  and  which  comprehends  all  in  a 
common  unit  of  thought. 

8.  These  relations  can  only  be  thought, —  they  can  not 
be  represented  by  objects.  But  if  they  can  not  be  rep- 
resented by  objects,  there  can  be  no  association  of 
words  with  objects  to  make  it  possible  for  them  to  be 
represented  in  language  to  a  mind  that  has  not  first 
thought  them  for  itself.  The  parts  or  elements  that  go  to 
make  up  a  unit  may  be  arranged  in  ways  to  make  the 
proper  unification  easier,  but  each  person  must  go 
through  the  process  of  uniting  them  himself.  No  one 
can  unify  for  another.  To  pronounce  words,  and  think 
they  will  help  the  process,  is  folly,  for  they  only  distract. 
No  vicarious  thinking  done  by  one  will  build  up  in- 
tellectual structures  in  the  mind  of  another.  We  must 
give  as  our  second  conclusion,  then,  that  all  construc- 
tion, or  synthesis  of  thought,  must  be  sought  in  the  self- 
energy  of  the  mind. 

9.  But,  although  the  mind  has  a  natural  tendency  to 
build,  the  process  requires  pre-eminently  time  and  atten- 
tion. In  the  first  place,  it  requires  time,  The  units  and 
parts  or  elements  that  constitute  it  are  simply  to  be  held 
in  mind  until,  by  the  spontaneity  of  thought,  the  parts  or 


12  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

elements  are  built  into  the  unit.  If  the  mind  does  not 
build  as  fast  as  the  material  is  presented,  we  can  only 
wait. 

ID.  The  second  thing  named  as  required  for  synthesis 
is  attention.  The  result  obtained  in  unifying  must  be 
definite  and  distinct  from  every  thing  else,  or  as  a  unit  it 
is  valueless.  When  an  object  or  thought  is  presented  for 
analysis,  it  is  presumably  obscurely  understood  in  some 
of  its  aspects  or  it  would  not  require  analysis.  It  is 
analyzed  to  make  it  clearer.  But  the  unit  of  synthesis  is 
nothing  if  obscure,  —  the  elements  are  not  fully  unified. 

II.  The  elements  which  we  build  into  wholes  are  of 
two  kinds, — fixed  and  variable.  The  elements  of  Math- 
ematics have  the  same  value  alone  and  in  combination. 
The  mind  is  capable  of  building  them  together,  and  it 
may  know  the  exact  value  of  its  product.  But  the  ele- 
ments of  speech  are  of  a  different' nature.  The  letters 
of  a  word  have  their  power  determined  largely  by  their 
combination  with  each  other.  An  elemental  sound  has 
no  meaning  for  us,  and  it  becomes  expressive  only  in 
connection  with  other  sounds.  Any  word  is  ambiguous 
in  sense  unless  united  with  other  words.  The  mind  pos- 
sesses the  subtle  power  of  building  wholes  from  these 
elements,  but  the  process  is  different  from  that  in  the 
case  before  spoken  of.  In  this  case,  the  whole  is  no 
more  what  the  elements  make  it  than  the  elements  are 
what  the  whole  determines  they  must  be.  We  must  seek 
such  values  for  the  elements  as  will  make  the  whole  con- 
sistent. This  requires  that  we  have  the  whole  in  mind, 
though  it  may  be  obscurely,  and  examine  at  the  same 
time  the  elements  in  relation  to  it  and  to  each  other. 
<This  is  analysis.  The  complete  process  requires,  it  is 
true,  both  analysis  and  synthesis,  but  the  main  energy  is 
spent  on  separating  and  discriminating. 


INTRODUCTION.  1 3 

• 

12.  When  analysis  and  synthesis  are  compared  to- 
gether, it  may  be  said  that  the  mind  has  no  such  natural 
tendency  to  analyze  as  to  combine.  It  is  forced  to  it  only 
by  the  impression  of  differences  which  require  analysis 
in  order  to  find  identities  by  means  of  which  to  unify. 
An  illustration  of  the  natural  tendency  to  build  up  rather 
than  analyze  may  be  seen  in  the  growth  of  the  sciences. 
First,  out  of  a  multitude  of  facts  the  mind  is  able  to  put 
a  few  together,  and  the  result  is  called  an  hypothesis. 
In  this  it  is  likely  to  rest  for  a  time,  but  it  gradually 
analyzes  this  hypothesis  and  other  facts  which  it  is  able 
to  unify,  and  it  forms  what  is  called  a  theory.  When  the 
analysis  is  so  complete  that  all  the  facts  that  belong  to- 
gether are  united  by  a  recognized  principle,  the  mind 
settles  in  an  established  law.  Take  for  example  the 
Nebular  Hypothesis.  It  supposed  that  all  the  heavenly 
bodies  were  evolved  from  one  mass  of  matter.  This  was 
a  unification  of  the  stellar  system  with  very  little  knowl- 
edge of  the  parts  related  together.  The  authors  of  the 
Hypothesis  did  not  even  inquire  if  the  matter  composing 
the  different  stars  was  all  of  the  same  kind.  And  the 
minds  of  men  in  general  grasped  much  more  eagerly 
after  the  hypothesis  that  satisfied  them  with  so  vast  a 
unification,  than  they  sought  to  understand  the  nature  of 
the  elements  united.  They  clung  to  the  Hypothesis,  but 
made  little  effort  to  establish  it  as  a  theory,  or  to  build 
up  a  science  upon  it.  In  the  course  of  generations,  a 
few  have  succeeded  in  analyzing  the  rays  of  light  in  such 
a  way  as  to  show  that  the  matter  is  identical,  and  the 
Hypothesis  takes  a  long  step  forward  in  the  direction  of 
theory  or  perhaps  law. 

13.  In  the  first  place,  then,  analysis  must  be  forced 
upon  the  mind  by  experience.  In  the  second  place,  the 
value  of  analytic  effort  in  strengthening  the  mind  lies  in 


14 


THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 


the  fact  that  it  is  a  drawing  of  the  mind  away  from  its 
natural  rest  in  unification,  and  thus  calls  its  powers  into 
greater  exercise.  In  the  third  place,  the  mind  must  be 
allowed  time  to  unify  what  it  has  analyzed,  or,  like  an 
overstrained  bow,  it  will  be  weakened,  and  become  con- 
tent to  drivel  and  haggle  about  unimportant  differences. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  said  : 

First,  That  synthesis  is  spontaneous,  while  the  mind 
must  be  stimulated  to  analyze. 

Secondly,  That  analysis  and  synthesis  must  go  together. 

Thirdly,  That  time  is  required  for  synthesis,  and  the 
mind  must  be  held  to  do  the  work  for  itself.  The  step 
is  short  but  difficult,  and  no  necessary  expense  of  time 
should  be  counted  too  great  to  secure  this  end. 


PART  I. 


GENERAL   CONSIDERATION    OF   EDUCATION   AS 
A   SCIENCE. 


(15) 


CHAPTER  I. 

LAW,    PRINCIPLE,    AND    RULE;    AND    SCIENCE,    PHILOSOPHY, 
AND    ART    DISTINGUISHED. 

HERE   is   much   confusion   in  the  use 

of  the  terms  science,  philosophy,  and  art. 
The  terms  science  and  philosophy  are  not 
carefully  distinguished  even  by  the  best 
writers,  although  the  growing  necessity  is 
generally  recognized  for  a  clearer  distinction  than  is 
usually  made.  Philosophy  is  variously  defined  as  the 
Science  of  Sciences,  the  Science  of  the  Absolute,  the 
Quintessence  of  Science,  and  so  forth.  We  use  the  term 
Natural  Philosophy  to  designate  the  physical  sciences, 
and  excite  the  ridicule  of  German  writers  by  speaking  of 
the  instruments  of  scientific  experiment  as  philosophical 
apparatus. 

Again,  the  distinction  between  science  and  art  must  be 
much  obscured,  when  the  same  subject  is  called  both  an 
art  and  a  science,  and  this  is  done  in  many'  text-books, 
and  no  effort  is  made  to  set  forth  any  part  as  belonging 
to  the  one  or  the  other.  A  science  may  be  tested  and 
illustrated  by  its  application  to  art,  or  an  art  may  be 
based  on  the  laws  of  science;  but  if  a  subject  is  treated 
both  as  a  science  and  an  art,  a  portion  of  the  treatment 
should  be  devoted  to  the  one  end,  and  another  distinct 
portion  to  the  other. 

2.  In  order  to  gain,  at  the  outset,  some  conception 
of  the  scope  of  what  is  meant  by  the  Science  of  Educa- 
tion, it  is  evident  that  the  term  science  needs  definition. 

S.  E.-2.  (17) 


1 8  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

To  distinguish  it  from  philosophy  and  art  requires  an  un- 
derstanding of  the  terms  law,  principle,  and  rule;  and 
these  words  involve  as  much  confusion  as  the  others.  It 
will,  therefore,  be  necessary  to  distinguish  these  first. 

3.  Rule. — This  word  means,  first,  a  guide,  a  material 
edge  or  face,  by  resting  against  which  a  moving  object 
will  take  the  shortest  distance  between  two  points.  It 
marks  the  limit  of  our  ability  to  make  a  straight  line,  or  to 
•find  the  shortest  distance  spoken  of.  In  the  second  place, 
the  word  is  applied  to  action.  When  two  persons  have 
the  same  thing  to  do,  and  one  does  it  more  easily  and 
more  quickly  than  the  other,  the  shorter  method  is 
adopted  as  a  guide  or  rule  for  doing  that  thing.  A  rule 
of  action,  then,  like  the  material  rule,  is  a  guide  or  direc- 
tion, by  following  which  a  given  thing  can  be  best  per- 
formed. A  perfect  rule  marks  the  limit  of  facility  or 
economy  in  work. 

4.  Principle. — The  term  principle  is  from  a  Latin 
word  which  means  leader,  head,  chief,  and  is  used  in  an 
absolute  and  in  d  relative  sense. 

a.  It  is  a  conception,  or  that  in  nature  which  is  sup- 
posed to  correspond  with  a  conception,  that  has  a  lead- 
ing or  controlling  influence  in  a  particular  thought  or 
line  of  reasoning.  In  its  absolute  sense  it  is  an  ultimate 
element  of  analysis,  or  an  ultimate  form  of  conscious- 
ness, a  conception  which  can  not  be  analyzed  by  us. 
It  may  be  something  thought  of  as  existing,  such  as 
a  quality  of  matter,  a  faculty,  life,  physical  force,  or 
the  conception  of  such  an  element,  and  it  is  then  called 
a  principle  of  being;  or  it  may  be  the  conception  of  a 
relation,  such  as  cause  and  effect,  justice,  law,  and  it  is 
then  called  a  principle  of  the  understanding.  On  the 
development  of  these  fundamental  principles  all  our 
knowledge  rests,   perception  depending  upon  principles 


RULE,    PRINCIPLE,    AND  LAW.  1 9 

of  being,  and  reasoning  on  principles  of  the  understand- 
ing. They  are  the  limit  of  thought  in  every  direction, 
and  though  they  may  not  be  ultimate  in  themselves,  they 
are  ultimate  for  us  in  thinking. 

b.  But  we  do  not  always  go  back  to  ultimate  principles 
in  considering  a  subject.  The  value  and  construction  of 
a  steam-engine  depend  upon  the  power  of  steam  and  the 
action  of  levers,  and  we  say  the  principles  of  the  steam- 
engine  are  the  expansiveness  of  steam  and  the  lever. 
We  do  not  need  to  analyze  these  in  order  to  understand 
the  engine.  Any  force,  mode  of  action,  or  material  form 
that  enters  as  a  unit  into  that  which  we  are  studying,  is  a 
principle  in  relation  to  that  thing,  and  is  particularly 
called  such  if  it  has  a  leading  influence  in  determining  its 
character.  This  is  the  more  frequent  use  of  the  term. 
In  this  sense,  a  principle  is  one  of  the  results  obtained  in 
the  last  analysis  of  a  subject  required  for  a  complete 
understanding  of  it.  Pure  mathematics  must  go  back  to 
first  principles,  or  the  ultimate  conceptions  of  the  mind; 
but  applied  mathematics,  like  Surveying  and  Astronomy, 
may  rest  upon  principles  derived  by  mathematical  reason- 

ipg. 

^  5.  Law. — a.  When  a  principle  is  to  be  used  as  a  fixed 
standard  of  judgment,  it  is  Hmited  to  such  a  series  or 
class  of  objects  as  show  uniform  relations  to  each  other, 
and  stated  in  terms  of  the  objects  related;  and  the  prin- 
ciple thus  limited  and  apphed  is  called  a  law.  For  in- 
stance, when  the  principle  of  justice  is  applied  to  con- 
tracts we  have  the  law  of  contracts,  setting  forth  the 
obligations  of  two  parties  under  given  conditions,  and 
laying  a  penalty  on  either  who  may  fail  to  carry  out  his 
part  of  the  contract.  The  principle  of  causation  is 
applied  to  the  production  of  heat,  and  we  have  the  law 
that  a  given  amount  of  coal,  when  consumed,  will  pro- 


20  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

duce  a  given  amount  of  heat.  We  are  not  always  able  to 
reduce  a  principle  to  satisfactory  laws,  but  a  law  must 
always  involve  a  principle.  The  value  of  a  law  depends 
upon  the  extent  and  accuracy  of  its  embodiment  of  a 
principle  or  principles. 

b.  The  ancient  Greeks  developed  more  of  what  may  be 
called  the  ultimate  principles  of  nature  and  of  human 
action  than  all  other  peoples  of  antiquity,  if  the  history 
that  has  come  down  to  us  is  a  reliable  test,  and  they  set 
them  forth  most  sharply  defined.  From  these  principles 
the  Romans  developed  laws,  and  were,  above  all  other 
nations,  a  nation  of  law.  Even  their  language  was 
marked  by  this  characteristic.  If  we  accept  the  etymol- 
ogy of  the  Latin  word  for  law  given  by  Mommsen,  we 
shall  find  in  that  the  fundamental  idea  here  presented. 
He  supposes  the  word  lex,  law,  to  be  derived  from  a  word 
meaning  to  depute.  A  king  required  his  subjects  to  obey 
his  will.  But  the  circumstances  in  which  men  were  liable 
to  be  placed  varied  so  greatly  that,  however  well  they 
might  understand  the  king's  disposition,  they  could  not 
always  tell  in  his  absence  what  his  will  was.  To  make 
provision  for  this  uncertainty, —  out  of  deference,  as  it 
were,  to  the  ignorance  and  inability  of  his  subjects, — the 
king  set  forth  a  statement  of  what  he  would  always  re- 
quire, exact,  or  inflict,  under  given  circumstances.  This 
statement  was  to  represent  his  will  to  his  subjects,  and 
was  to  be  so  regarded,  both  by  him  and  by  them.  In  a 
similar  way,  the  absolute  nature  of  matter  and  force  is 
unknown  to  man ;  he  can  not  trace  objects,  actions,  and 
motives  to  their  ultimate  elements;  but  there  are  recorded 
in  the  constitution  of  his  reason  laws  which  represent  to 
him,  within  definite  limits,  when  developed  into  con- 
sciousness, the  mode  in  which  matter  and  force  act  under 
certain  circumstances.     A  law  does  not  attempt  to  repre- 


RULE,    PRINCIPLE,    AND    LAW.  21 

sent  a  principle  in  more  than  one  aspect,  and,  in  our  im- 
perfect apprehension,  does  not  generally  represent  this 
aspect  exactly,  or  there  would  be  no  exceptions.  A  law 
can  not  be  more  true  than  the  principle  on  which  it  rests, 
but  it  is  more  definite  in  the  understanding,  and  it  is  held 
more  clearly  in  consciousness.  Could  we  stand  at  the 
source  of  all  physical  and  spiritual  changes,  with  the 
ability  to  trace  each  active  power  from  event  to  event 
through  the  entire  series,  we  would  need  no  law  to  help 
our  understanding.  The  necessity  of  law  implies  the 
impossibility  of  exact  knowledge  of  the  reality  itself. 
But  inexactness  does  not  imply  unreality.  The  concep- 
tions which  we  call  principles  must  be  supposed  to  have 
reality  for  their  cause.  The  study  of  principles  is  a 
struggle  after  a  knowledge  of  reality.  In  the  impossibility 
of  exactness  in  this  knowledge  we  seek  to  read  the  laws 
established  for  us,  but  we  are  warned  to  be  ever  on  our 
guard  against  supposing  them  to  represent  things  for 
which  they  do  not  stand. 

c.  A  law  is  sometimes  called  a  rule  of  conduct.  Strictly 
speaking,  the  rule  is  derived  from  the  law.     On  the  other 

/"fiand,  a  rule  of  conduct  is  called  a  moral  law.  Thus, 
**Thou  shalt  not  kill"  is  called  a  law.  But  it  is  in  the 
form  of  a  rule,  and  becomes  a  law  only  when  the  penalty 
is  added:  ''Whosoever  shall  kill,  shall  be  in  danger  of 
the  judgment."  As  the  material  rule  does  not  tell  where 
the  pencil  will  go  if  it  strays  from  the  line,  so  a  moral  rule 
does  not  include  the  penalty  of  disobedience.  It  only 
directs  conduct.  But  a  moral  law,  fully  expressed,  sets 
forth  the  relations  between  conduct  and  its  consequences. 

d.  A  law  is  also  distinguished  from  a  principle  in  that  a 
principle  is  a  simple  conception  derived  by  analysis,  while 
a  law  is  the  synthesis  of  many  objects  through  uniform 
relations. 


22  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

e.  Principle  and  rule  are  clearly  distinguished  in  that 
the  principle  on  which  a  rule  is  based  represents  a  rela- 
tion; the  rule  regulates  conduct  in  view  of  that  rela- 
tion. 

/.  As  a  rule  is  the  limit  of  facility  in  action,  and  a 
principle  the  limit  of  discovery  in  perception  and  thought, 
so  a  law  is  the  Hmit  of  exactness  in  reasoning. 

6.  Art,  Philosophy,  and  Science. — These  differ  from 
each  other  alike  in  respect  to  their  origin,  their  aim,  their 
method,  and  their  form  of  statement. 

a.  Origin, — An  art  begins  in  the  discovery  of  different 
methods  of  producing  a  given  effect;  philosophy,  in  the 
discovery  of  differences  in  that  which  has  only  been 
known  previously  as  one;  science,  in  the  discovery  of 
uniform  relations  that  give  a  common  aspect  to  things 
known  before  only  as  individual. 

b.  Aim. — An  art  seeks  economy  of  production;  philos- 
ophy seeks  the  causes  that  make  a  thing  to  exist,  or  to  be 
what  it  is ;  science  seeks  an  orderly  arrangement  of  things 
based  on  a  uniformity  of  relations  which  they  exhibit. 

c.  Method. — An  art  is  empirical;  philosophy  is  ana- 
lytical; science  is  synthetic. 

d.  Form. — An  art  is  formulated  in  rules;  philosophy, 
in  principles;  science,  in  laws. 

7.  General  Characteristics  of  Philosophy  and 
Science. — Some  things  that  belong  only  to  Philosophy 
are  frequently  demanded  of  Science,  and  some  things 
that  belong  only  to  Science  are  demanded  of  Philosophy. 
The  peculiar  characteristics  of  each  should  be  considered 
in  criticising  the  merits  of  any  individual  work,  that  more 
may  not  be  demanded  of  it  than  properly  belongs  to  it  to 
do. 

a.  The  word  Philosophy,  meaning  the  love  of  wisdom^  is 
the  product  of  Greek  intelligence  and  enterprise,  and  it 


ART,    PHILOSOPHY,   AND    SCIENCE.  23 

breathes  the  loftier  aspirations;  the  word  Science,  discrhti- 
inating  knowledge,  is  a  development  of  law-prescribing 
Rome,  and  it  brings  more  of  an  air  of  assurance  and 
authority. 

b.  A  Science  proper  is  confined  within  narrow  and  defi- 
nite limits,  and  should  not  be  held  to  go  outside  the  facts 
that  constitute  those  limits  to  find  either  their  cause  or 
purpose;  on  the  other  hand,  if  Philosophy  says  that  the 
whole  plan  which  Science  has  discovered  must  have  had 
an  origin  in  a  personal  intelligence.  Science  is  not  compe- 
tent to  deny  the  claim. 

c.  Philosophy  is  ever  in  search  of  higher  truths,  and  is 
the  more  stimulating ;  Science  seeks  greater  exactness,  and 
finds  out  more  of  the  serviceable  elements  of  knowledge. 

d.  Philosophy  seeks  the  truth  for  the  love  of  it,  yields 
its  opinions  reluctantly,  makes  a  difference  in  the  value  of 
different  truths,  and  is  conservative;  Science  is  icono- 
clastic. It  guards  with  equal  jealousy  every  fact  within 
its  realm,  and  is  willing  to  tear  down  its  entire  structure 
for  a  newly-discovered  fact,  and  build  anew  to  make  a 
fitting  place  for  the  foundling. 

8.  Order  of  Development. — The  necessities  of  life 
must  have  developed  an  inquiry  after  economy  of  produc- 
tion before  the  thoughts  of  men  were  given  to  any  other 
consideration.  The  discovery  of  principles  must  have 
preceded  their  embodiment  in  law,  and  science  must 
always  wait  on  art  and  philosophy  for  the  elements  with 
which  it  builds. 

9.  Stages  of  Science. — a.  Every  science  must  have  its 
philosophical  stage  in  which  its  laws  are  discovered;  its 
experimental  stage,  in  which  its  laws  are  tested  and  estab- 
lished; and  its  constructive  stage,  in  which  laws  are 
applied,  and  the  elements  of  the  science  are  arranged  in 
order.     The  first  stage  is  strictly  philosophy,  and  should 


24  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

not  be  named  here  but  that  every  treatise  on  any  science 
is  compelled  to  enter  extensively  into  philosophical 
analysis,  to  develop  the  principles  on  which  its  laws  are 
founded.  It  may  also  suggest  that  the  method  of  what  is 
called  scientific  discovery  is  philosophical  or  analytical, 
while  the  method  of  scientific  proof  is  synthetic;  and 
thus,  in  order  to  complete  a  scientific  thought,  analysis 
and  synthesis  must  be  united,  as  was  suggested  concerning 
every  complete  thought  in  sections  4  and  11,  Introduc- 
tion. 

b.  There  is,  also,  what  may  be  called  the  practical  stage 
of  science ;  that  is,  a  stage  in  which  the  science  is  applied 
to  an  art.  This  is  all  that  can  be  meant  when  it  is  said 
of  any  subject  that  it  is  both  a  science  and  an  art.  The 
statement  should  be  enlarged  somewhat,  and  it  should  be 
said  that  every  subject  worthy  the  attention  of  man  is 
alike  philosophical,  scientific,  and  practical.  What  we 
want  to  know  of  a  particular  treatise  is,  which  of  these 
ends  it  aims  at,  for  its  method  must  vary  with  its  aim.  If 
it  is  the  aim  to  apply  the  laws  of  a  science  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  rules  of  an  art,  the  subject  is  no  longer 
treated  as  a  science,  strictly  speaking,  but  as  an  art,  con- 
sidered from  a  scientific  point  of  view.  Art,  which  we 
found  beginning  before  philosophy,  we  now  find  in  its 
complete  development,  following  science;  but  the  test  of 
its  rules  will  still  be  their  actual  use. 

10.  The  Science  of  Education. — Education  has  been 
largely  but  an  empirical  art.  Its  philosophical  aspects, 
however,  have  sometimes  engaged  the  brief  attention  of 
profound  thinkers.  During  the  past  few  years  it  has  been 
seeking  to  emerge  from  the  stage  of  philosophical  inquiry 
and  take  the  form  of  scientific  laws,  that  it  may  furnish  a 
surer  basis  for  the  art  of  methods.  One  of  the  greatest 
reasons  for  the  slow  progress  of  the  science  is  the  failure 


SCIENCE    DEFINED. 


25 


to  find  a  fundamental  principle  that  could  be  made  the 
basis  of  a  general  law.  This  failure  has  not  been  because 
the  principle  was  so  far  to  seek,  after  the  philosophy  of 
Kant,  but  because  those  who  have  treated  of  this  subject 
have  mainly  had  the  practical  end  of  education  in  view, 
and  it  has  seemed  easier  to  build  up  a  system  of  methods 
on  the  foundation  of  an  established  Psychology,  than  to 
create  a  new  science,  embodying  the  principles  of  mental 
development,  and  make  this  a  basis  for  methods.  But 
the  lack  of  unity  and  completeness  in  every  system  pro- 
posed has  led  to  an  urgent  demand  for  a  science  adapted 
to  meet  the  wants  of  the  art,  and  a  study  of  the  processes 
of  mental  growth  should  be  abundantly  able  to  satisfy 
this  demand. 


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S.  E.— 3. 


CHAPTER  II. 

EXPLANATION    OF    TERMS. 

N  seeking  for  a  general  principle  for 

the  science  of  education,  the  discussion 
will  involve  the  use  of  some  terms  which 
ought  first  to  be  defined. 

I.  Quality,  Faculty,  and  Attri- 
bute.— These  words  are  applied  to  the  form  or  mode  in 
which  things  that  are  manifest  their  existence.  They  are 
sometimes  used  interchangeably,  but  Quahty  is  especially 
applied  to  matter.  Faculty  to  mind,  and  Attribute  to 
Deity.  Hardness  is  a  Quality  of  matter,  memory  a 
Faculty  of  mind,  and  wisdom  an  Attribute  of  Deity. 

2.  Intuition. — a.  This  word  is  derived  from  a  word 
meaning  to  look  upon.  It  is  the  act  of  the  mind  when 
brought  into  the  most  immediate  presence  of  an  object  of 
knowledge.  Acts  of  perception  and  self-consciousness 
are  Intuitions,  and  the  knowledge  immediately  gained  by 
these  acts  is  called  Intuitive.  The  word  is  also  sometimes 
applied  to  the  power  of  the  mind  by  which  such  knowl- 
edge is  gained. 

b.  This  word,  and  many  other  words  of  the  same  end- 
ing, have  three  classes  of  application,  designating  first,  an 
act,  secondly,  the  product  of  the  act,  and  thirdly,  the 
cause  of  the  act. 

c.  Two  conditions  are  necessary  to  constitute  an  Intu- 
ition. First,  the  object  of  knowledge  must  be  individual; 
and  secondly,  it  must  be  immediately  presented  to  con- 

(26) 


EXPLANATION    OF    TERMS.  27 

scioiisness.  Whatever  knowledge  answers  these  two  con- 
ditions is  Intuitive,  however  it  may  be  gained.  Some 
hold  that  there  are  higher  Intuitions  than  those  included 
in  perception  and  self-consciousness;  others  give  a 
broader  meaning  to  the  word  Intuition,  while  they  hold 
that  the  mind  has  conscious  relations  only  to  itself  in 
different  states.  There  are  other  uses  of  the  word  which 
need  not  be  discussed  here. 

3.  Abstraction. — To  Abstract  is  to  take  away.  As  a 
philosophical  term,  Abstraction  denotes,  first,  the  act  of 
withdrawing  the  mind  from  one  feature  and  another  of 
an  object  presented  to  it,  until  all  the  energy  is  centered 
upon  a  single  characteristic.  In  the  second  place,  it 
designates  a  notion  of  the  feature  on  which  the  mind  is 
fixed.  Elementary  principles  are  the  purest  Abstractions, 
for  such  a  notion  can  not  be  divided. 

4.  Notion,  Idea,  Image,  Conception,  and  Concept. — 
a.  These  words  are  used  for  the  representations  the  mind 
makes  to  itself  of  objects  of  thought.  These  representa- 
tions come  from  intuitions,  immediate  or  recalled,  with 
the  addition  of  such  conditions  as  reason  may  affirm  to  be 
fitting  or  necessary. 

b.  Image  is  the  most  definite  of  these  words.  It 
designates  the  mental  picture  of  a  concrete  object,  and  is 
either  the  reproduction  of  an  intuition  held  vividly  before 
the  mind,  or  a  reproduction  with  such  changes  or  combi- 
nations as  reason  or  fancy  may  suggest. 

c.  The  other  terms  are  used  interchangeably,  but  differ- 
ent writers  make  specific  distinctions  to  give  clearness  to 
particular  views.  The  terms  Notion  and  Idea  are  the 
terms  of  common  language.  Notion  is  the  more  general, 
and  is  used  of  inexact  or  general  representations.  Idea 
is  used  when  a  more  clearly  defined  or  specific  representa- 
tion is  in  mind.     It  has  the  most  important  history,  per- 


28  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

haps,  of  any  word  in  the  vocabulary  of  philosophy.  At 
present  it  has  no  technical  use  in  our  language,  though 
some  of  its  former  force  remains  in  the  derivatives  ideal 
and  idealism. 

d.  Conception  is  from  a  word  that  means  to  take  to- 
gether. It  implies,  generally,  a  combination  of  elements, 
qualities,  or  attributes,  bound  together  by  some  mental 
process.  It  denotes  the  act,  the  product,  or  the  power 
of  conception.  In  order  to  avoid  ambiguity  in  the 
use  of  a  term  so  important  and  so  hard  to  gain  a  clear 
meaning  of  at  best,  the  word  Concept  is  often  used  in 
philosophical  writings  instead  of  Conception  in  its  second 
sense. 

5.  Truth. — This  word  signifies  the  exact  agreement 
between  a  representation,  such  as  a  statement,  a  concept, 
or  a  figure,  and  the  thing  represented.  Thus,  we  say 
there  is  no  truth  in  a  statement  when  it  does  not  conform 
to  facts. 

6.  Real  and  Rational. — The  term  Real  designates, 
philosophically,  that  which  is  conceived  of  as  having 
actual  existence,  as  opposed  to  relations  and  logical  con- 
clusions. Real  knowledge,  philosophically,  is  knowledge 
of  that  which  exists,  and  can  come,  in  the  first  instance, 
only  from  intuition.  Rational  knowledge  is  that  which  is 
gained  by  the  exercise  of  the  reason.  What  we  know 
about  the  qualities  of  matter  and  individual  objects  is 
Real  knowledge.  Knowledge  of  cause  and  effect,  of 
mathematical  truths,  and  of  other  things  that  furnish  no 
other  basis  of  belief  than  the  necessary  laws  of  thought, 
is  Rational  knowledge.  The  notion  of  a  circle  or  of  cau- 
sation is  a  Rational  concept. 

7.  Analysis  and  Synthesis. — a.  Analysis  and  Synthe- 
sis are  either  actual  or  representative.  They  are  actual 
when  applied  directly  either  to  things   that  exist   or   to 


EXPLANATION    OF    TERMS.  29 

rational  concepts.  They  are  representative  when  applied 
to  concepts  that  represent  things  that  exist,  or  to  real 
things  that  represent  rational  concepts.  A  tree  and  the 
concept  of  a  circle  are  subject  to  actual  Analysis,  the  one 
being  real  and  the  other  rational.  The  idea  of  a  tree, 
and  a  drawing  made  to  represent  a  circle,  are  subject  to 
representative  Analysis. 

b.  Real  Analysis,  that  is  the  analysis  of  things,  is  the 
separation  of  complex  objects  into  elements  or  constituent 
parts  that  have  an  individuality.  Real  Synthesis  is  the 
union  of  individual  parts  or  elements  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  form  a  whole.  Rational  Analysis,  that  is  the  Analysis 
of  a  rational  concept,  is  the  separation  of  a  concept  into 
its  constituent  elements,  and  rational  Synthesis  is  the 
union  of  elements  into  a  rational  whole.  A  cup  of  water 
is  not  Analyzed  by  pouring  out  a  part  of  it,  for  no  indi- 
viduality is  gained  or  lost.  A  plant  is  not  Analyzed  by 
simply  cutting  it  into  pieces  that  may  be  put  together 
again.  But  if  the  roots  are  detached,  the  bark  removed, 
the  leaves  stripped  off,  and  so  forth,  the  parts  have  a 
character  of  individuality,  and  the  process  is  properly  a 
real  Analysis.  In  the  burning  of  a  candle  oxygen  and 
carbon  unite  and  produce  carbonic  acid.  This  is  a  real 
Synthesis. 

c.  If  we  take  the  rational  concept  of  a  triangle,  and 
bring  it  into  distinct  consciousness,  we  find  that  it  con- 
tains three  lines  as  individual  elements,  and  these  meet  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  form  three  angles.  In  finding  these 
individual  elements  in  our  concept  we  perform  a  rational 
Analysis.  If  we  take  the  rational  concepts  of  three 
straight  Hnes  and  put  them  together  in  thought  so  as  to 
form  a  triangle,   we  perform  a  rational  Synthesis. 

d.  If,  instead  of  actually  making  a  real  Analysis  and 
Synthesis,  we  make  them  intellectually,  they  will  be  repre- 


30  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

sentative.  For  instance,  if,  instead  of  actually  separating 
a  tree  into  its  constituent  parts,  we  think  of  a  tree,  and 
by  means  of  representative  language  separate  the  image 
of  it  in  our  minds,  we  perform  a  representative  Analysis 
of  that  which  is  real.  Again,  if  a  child  sees  a  burning 
candle  and  forms  a  notion  of  it  only  as  a  bright  object  of 
a  certain  form,  and  afterward  touches  the  flame,  it  will 
add  to  its  previous  concept  of  the  flame  the  element  of 
heat.  This  intellectual  Synthesis  is  representative  of  that 
which  is  real.  In  the  same  manner  the  real  may  be  used 
to  represent  rational  Analysis  and  Synthesis.  The  idea 
of  the  circle  or  triangle,  and  the  idea  of  their  elements, 
are  represented  by  real  lines  and  figures.  The  Analysis 
and  Synthesis  of  these  are  made  to  represent  the  Analysis 
and  Synthesis  of  the  concepts  themselves. 

8.  Empirical,  Inductive,  and  Deductive. — a.  These 
words  apply  both  to  knowledge  and  to  methods  of  obtaining 
it.  Empirical  knowledge  comes  direcdy  from  experience. 
Our  knowledge  of  the  taste  or  color  of  this  or  that  thing 
which  we  have  tasted  or  seen  is  Empirical.  Our  knowl- 
edge of  events  which  we  have  witnessed  is  Empirical.  It 
is  the  beginning  of  all  knowledge,  and  the  only  source  of 
a  direct  knowledge  of  facts.  But  the  possibility  of  this 
kind  of  knowledge  is  limited.  No  one  person  could  gain 
much  knowledge  if  he  depended  on  experience  alone. 
Experience  is  said  to  be  a  good  teacher,  but  a  dear  one. 
It  is  dear  in  this  respect,  that  the  cost  in  time  and  energy 
required  to  learn  a  few  facts  individually,  in  which  way 
alone  they  are  learned  by  experience,  is  much  greater  than 
the  cost  of  learning  the  same  number  of  things  with  the 
aid  of  reason.  In  consequence  of  the  laboriousness  of 
the  Empirical  process,  the  mind  follows  rational  processes 
when  possible. 

b.  There  are  two  methods  of  arriving  at  results  by  the 


EXPLANATION    OF    TERMS.  3 1 

exercise  of  reason,  called  Induction  and  Deduction.  By 
the  first  we  infer  a  general  truth  from  a  particular  fact; 
and  by  the  second  we  infer  a  particular  fact  from  a  general 
truth.  When  a  child  first  touches  a  candle-flame  and 
finds  it  hot,  he  learns  a  fact  by  experience.  This  is  Em- 
pirical. When  he  draws  the  inference  from  this  that  all 
candle-flames  are  hot,  he  makes  an  Induction.  That  it  is 
natural  to  make  such  an  Induction  is  evident,  because  all 
children  avoid  candle-flames  when  once  they  have  been 
burned  by  one.  If  one  experience  is  not  sufficient,  a 
second  and  a  third  will  make  the  inference  more  certain. 
Sometimes  many  examples  are  necessary  to  justify  a 
general  conclusion;  and  it  should  be  said  that  an  Induc- 
tion requires  a  sufficient  number  of  known  examples, 
however  many  this  may  be.  It  is  held  by  some  that 
to  make  an  Induction  strictly  logical  the  general  con- 
clusion must  have  for  its  basis  an  actual  knowledge  that 
each  of  the  particular  examples  agrees  with  the  conclu- 
sion. But  in  this  case  the  knowledge  is  Empirical.  If, 
for  instance,  it  has  been  observed  that  each  known  planet 
moves  around  the  sun  from  west  to  east,  and  in  conse- 
quence of  these  observations  the  proposition  be  laid  down 
that  all  known  planets  move  in  this  direction,  it  would  be 
called  a  logical  Induction.  But  it  is  difficult  to  see  how 
this  differs  from  the  knowledge  of  experience,  and  why  it 
is  not  strictly  Empirical.  But  if  it  be  concluded  from 
what  has  been  observed  that  all  planets,  including  those 
not  discovered,  move  from  west  to  east,  the  inference  is 
something  more  than  Empirical.  It  may  be  distinctively 
called  Inductive. 

c.  In  the  second  method  of  arriving  at  conclusions  by 
the  reason,  we  infer  a  particular  fact  from  a  general  truth. 
If  a  child  has  learned  the  general  truth  that  all  candle- 
flames  are  hot,  and  perceives  one  dangerously  near,   he 


32  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

infers  that  this  is  hot.  This  is  a  logical  Deduction.  It 
is  knowledge  not  contained  in  the  general  knowledge, 
for  a  part  of  it  is  Empirical,  being  derived  from  the  sight 
of  the  flame.  The  Deduction  consists  in  adding  to  the 
Empirical  knowledge  of  this  candle  the  notion  of  heat 
drawn  from  the  general  knowledge. 

d.  Induction  and  Deduction  are  called,  the  one  syn- 
thetic, the  other  analytic.  But  the  concluding  act  of  each 
is  synthetic.  This  should  be  so  if  it  is  true,  as  generally 
held,  that  analysis  and  synthesis  always  go  together ;  and 
if  what  was  said  of  analysis  and  synthesis  in  the  Introduc- 
tion is  true.  It  was  there  held  that  all  mental  develop- 
ment depends  upon  the  discrimination  of  differences  in  a 
unity  which  the  mind  builds  up  by  synthesis  in  conse- 
quence of  the  discrimination,  and  in  the  very  act  of  seek- 
ing to  make  the  discrimination  clear.  The  finishing 
stroke  of  every  complete  mental  act  is  synthetic.  In  In- 
duction a  particular  notion  that  has  been  obtained  by  the 
analysis  of  one  thing,  is  added  to  the  general  notion  of 
the  class  to  which  the  thing  analyzed  belongs.  In  De- 
duction, a  particular  notion  that  has  been  found  to  be- 
long to  a  class  of  things,  in  general,  is  added  to  a 
particular  thing  that  belongs  to  the  class.  In  Induction 
the  idea  of  the  class,  in  Deduction  the  idea  of  the  indi- 
vidual is  built  up  by  synthesis. 

9.  A  Priori  and  A  Posteriori. — These  terms  have  a 
long  and  varied  history.  It  will  only  be  necessary  here 
to  state  their  present  commonly  accepted  philosophical 
use.     They  are  applied  to  reasoning  and  concepts. 

a.  A  Priori  reasoning  is  reasoning  from  antecedent  to 
consequent,  or  from  cause  to  effect.  A  Posteriori 
reasoning  is  the  opposite.  A  Priori  concepts  are  said  to 
be  developed  by  experience,  but  not  from  it.  The  notion 
of  a  circle  is  an  example.     Their  characteristic  is  that 


EXPLANATION    OF   TERMS.  33 

from  the  constitution  of  the  mind  we  can  not  think  them 
to  be  different  from  what  they  are,  under  any  circum- 
stances. We  can  not  think  two  and  two  into  five,  nor 
think  of  any  intelHgence  as  able  to  do  it.  The  concepts 
are  held  to  be  necessary  and  universal.  A  Posteriori 
concepts  are  such  as  are  made  to  conform  to  the  facts  of 
experience,  like  the  concept  of  a  horse  or  a  tree. 

b.  The  question  of  the  validity  of  this  distinction  be- 
tween the  two  classes  of  knowledge  is  called  the  battle- 
ground of  philosophers.  Whether  all  that  is  claimed  as 
to  the  distinction  is  true  or  not,  a  brief  reference  to  the 
discussion  of  analysis  and  synthesis  will  show  that  there 
is  at  least  a  difference  broad  enough  to  require  the  use 
of  different  specific  terms,  if  we  are  to  speak  of  the 
things  themselves  with  precision. 

-  c.  An  A  Posteriori  concept,  if  it  represents  something 
that  exists,  as  it  must  do  if  it  conforms  to  objects  of  ex- 
perience, is  a  more  or  less  perfect  representative  con- 
cept. It  may  represent  the  object  of  a  simple  intuition, 
like  a  tree  that  has  been  seen ;  or  an  element  that  has 
been  obtained  by  analysis,  as  a  germ;  or  a  unit  of  syn- 
thesis, as  the  flame  of  a  candle.  In  any  case  it  is  rep- 
resentative. If  there  is  inaccuracy  in  the  agreement 
between  the  concept  and  the  object  known,  the  error 
must  be  in  the  concept,  for  we  can  not  think  of  the 
object  as  not  being  what  it  is.  An  A  Priori  concept,  if 
it  be  the  product  of  reason,  as  has  been  supposed,  is  not 
representative  of  any  thing  known  to  exist;  but  that 
which  exists,  the  figure  of  a  circle,  for  instance,  is  rep- 
resentative of  the  concept.  If  there  is  a  lack  of  agree- 
ment here,  the  inaccuracy  is  in  the  real  figure  and  not  in 
the  concept.  The  concept,  if  distinct,  can  not  be  inac- 
curate, or  if  it  could,  no  more  accurate  standard  can  be 
conceived  with  which  to  compare  it. 


34 


THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 


lo.  Ego,  Non  Ego,  Subject,  Subjective,  Object,  and 
Objective. — The  term  Ego  is  used  as  a  noun  in  the  third 
person,  to  represent  I  or  self,  and  Non-Ego  designates 
any  thing  that  is  not  self.  Subject  represents  the  mind  as 
exercising  some  power  of  knowing,  feeling,  or  willing, 
and  the  power  or  activity  is  said  to  be  subjective  with  re- 
spect to  the  mind.  Object  represents  that  on  which  the 
mind  acts,  and  whatever  belongs  to  the  object  is  called 
Objective.  Heavy,  sweet,  and  so  forth,  are  used  Sub- 
jectively when  they  designate  an  effect  in  us,  and  Object- 
ively when  they  designate  the  qualities  of  the  objects 
that  produce  these  effects. 


CHAPTER  III. 

WHAT    IS    EDUCATION? 

HE  term  Education  sometimes  denotes  a 
process  and  sometimes  a  product.  In 
discussing  the  principles  of  Education,  it 
is  mostly  confined  to  its  use  to  represent 
the  act  or  process  by  which  a  person  is 
Educated.  In  common  language  it  often  applies  to  the 
knowledge,  power,  or  skill  which  a  person  has  gained. 
2.  If  we  will  duly  consider  the  different  views  which 
different  persons  take  of  the  same  subject,  we  must  con- 
clude that  men  see  only  those  things  to  which  the  forms 
of  thought  which  their  own  minds  furnish  are  adjusted. 
When  Don  Quixote,  on  his  mission  of  knight-errantry, 
saw  gleaming  swords  of  mighty  giants  in  the  swinging 
arms  of  a  windmill,  heard  the  tread  of  soldiers  in  the 
steady  beating  of  a  fuller's  beam,  and  saw  an  army's 
camp  in  a  flock  of  sheep  that  lay  in  a  field  at  midnight, 
his  infatuation  differed  from  the  common  errors  of  men 
only  in  the  degree  of  its  absurdity.  The  sights  and  the 
sounds  were  no  mere  appearances.  The  gleaming,  like 
the  flashing  of  a  sword,  was  real.  The  beating  which  he 
heard  in  the  darkness  was  like  the  steady  tread  of  veteran 
soldiers.  The  white-fleeced  sheep  dotted  the  plain  like 
the  tents  and  banners  of  an  army.  His  error  came  from 
the  fact  that  things  by  which  he  ought  to  have  cor- 
rected the  vagaries  of  his  imagination  awakened  no  rec- 
ognition, and  he  saw  and  heard  only  what  he  had  gone 

(35) 


fpl( 

>»   [of 


36  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

forth  to  see  and  hear.     His  mind   had  been   filled  with 
stories  of  daring  deeds  which  others  had  done  in  the  same 
field   of   enterprise,    his   imagination    was   inflamed    with 
pictures  of  wrongs  which  the  weak  were  suffering,  and  to' 
him  the  world   presented  but  two   phases, — red-handed 
wrong  and  innocent  suffering.     Every  thing  had  to  be  in- 
terpreted as  belonging   to  the  one  or  the  other  of  these 
two  sides  of  existence.     Men  in  real  life,  men  at  their? 
best,  see  and  hear  only  what  their  minds  are  prepared  tqj 
see  and    hear.     Mental    activities    are    from  within,  and 
they  will  be  in  harmony  with  nature  only  as  the  mind  is 
prepared   to  respond    to    the  appeals  of    nature  in  their 
perfection  of  order  and  beauty. 

-^3.  A  great  difference  is  seen  in  the  same  individual  if 
we  compare  the  activities  of  the  child  with  those  of  the 
man.  The  change  through  which  the  mind  passes  is  an 
evolution,  and  the  process  by  which  this  change  is  brought 
about,  and  which  we  call  Education,  is  a  development. 
That  which  Don  Quixote  lacked  was  not  different  sur- 
roundings but  a  different  development  of  his  own  powers. 
We  speak  of  building  up  the  brain  and  building  up  char- 
acter. But  the  agent  that  builds  is  within  the  brain  and 
within  the  character.  Brain  food  and  principles  of  con- 
duct are  only  the  material  and  form  which  the  agent  uses 
in  building.  Indeed,  it  is  a  doubtful  use  of  the  word 
build  to  apply  it  either  to  the  growth  of  the  body  or  the 
development  of  the  mind.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest  princi- 
es  of  philosophy  that  Education  is  not  an  accumulation 
experiences  and  facts  of  observation.  The  mind  is 
not  like  a  honey-comb,  with  cells  formed  waiting  to  be 
filled.  Education,  as  its  etymology  impHes,  when  the 
word  is  traced  to  its  ultimate  Latin  stem,  is  a  drawing 
out,  a  calling  into  exercise,  of  an  energy  already  exist- 
ing.    This  will  be  made  more  clear  by  comparison. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  LOWER  FORMS.  37 

a.  An  atom   of  matter   manifests   a   form   of   activity  »l^^^ 
called  attraction  when  another  atom  acts  upon  it.     The     ^e 
energy  of  attraction  must  be  thought  of  as  belonging  to 

the  atom,  and  developed  from  it,  for  it  does  not  exist  in 
the  second  atom  if  not  in  the  first,  and  if  it  existed  in 
neither  it  would  not  exist  at  all  as  an  atomic  force. 

b.  There  is  another  form  of    activity  in  plants.     It  is  ^ 
true  that  there  are  no  changes  of  matter  in  the  growth    *<^ 
of  a  plant,  so  far  as  we  know,  but  such  as  we  may  con- 
ceive  to  be  produced  by  the   attraction  existing  in  the 
material  elements  out  of  which   the  plant  is  produced. 

We  see  the  attraction  of  gravitation,  and  capillary  and 
chemical  attraction  every-where  manifest  in  a  growing 
tree,  and  perhaps  these  are  sufficient  to  account  for  its 
growth  if  we  could  conceive  how  they  are  called  into 
action.  An  atom  requires  only  the  presence  of  another 
atom  like  itself  to  manifest  the  activity  of  attraction,  but 
the  earth,  out  of  which  a  plant  grows,  requires  the  pres- 
ence of  something  different  from  itself,  or  it  will  not  take 
on  the  form  of  root,  trunk,  flower,  and  fruit.  There 
must  be  present  plant-life  to  condition  or  determine  the 
forms  of  a  plant's  activities.  Wherever  the  life-germ  is 
planted,  there,  and  there  alone,  do  the  activities  of 
matter  take  on  the  forms  of  living  plants.  The  growing 
of  the  plant  comes  from  the  development  of  the  power 
within  the  seed. 

c.  There  is  a  higher  activity  than  that  of  plants  seen  in 
animals.     The  science  of  Zoology  is  distinct  from  Botany,  "^^ 
because  the  laws  of  the  development  of  animal  organisms        **. 
are   different   from   those   seen   in   the    development    of 
plants,  and  we  must  conceive  of  a  different  principle  to 
condition  this  different  manifestation,  for  animals  as  well 

as  plants  are  made  from  common  dust. 

d.  There  is  a  still  higher  form  of  activity  than  that  of 


38  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

•  a/'  sense  and  motion.     It  is  the  activity  of  thought,  feehng, 
1/  and   will.     It   is    due   to   the   presence   of   rational   life. 

Whatever  the  origin  of  this  life  may  be,  it  is  subject  to 
laws  peculiar  to  itself,  and  it  is  a  power  not  to  be  ac- 
counted for,  the  same  as   is   gravitation,   and    we    must 
consider  that  when  it  is  made  to  manifest  itself  it  is  de- 
veloped,  not   created.     Education,   then,   as  applied  to 
Lthis  power  of  the  mind,  is  development. 
xj^      4.  The  difference  between  a  development  of  the  forms 
y»  t^    of  a  force  in  any  thing  and  the  transmission  of  a  force 
to  it  may  clearly  be  seen  in  physics.     When  one  ivory 
all  strikes  against  another,  the  first  ball  stops  and  the 
motion   is   taken  up  by   the    second.     The  force  of  the 
first  ball  is  said  to  be  transmitted  to  the  second.     When 
a  hammer  is  brought  down  upon  an  anvil,   the  force  is 
transmitted  to  the  anvil  and  transformed  into  heat.     But 
when  the  gate  in  a  mill-race  is  lifted,  and  the  water  pours 
down  upon  a  wheel  and  sets  the  machinery  of  the  mill 
in  motion,  the  force  that  raises  the  gate  is  not  transferred 
to  the  water,  but  the  gravity  which  was  before  in   the 
water  and  held  in  a  state  of  inactivity  is  set  free,  and 
manifests  itself  in  the  work  performed.     The  explosive 
force  of  gunpowder  does  not   manifest   itself   until   the 
powder  is  raised  to  a  temperature  required  to  develop  it. 
In  the  same  way  we  say  the  powers  of  the  mind  are  de- 
veloped when  from  an  inactive  state  they  are  brought 
•i^ito  activity. 
C|r       5.  The  term  Education  is  sometimes  restricted  to  the 
^/  development  of  the  mental  powers ;  sometimes  it  is  used 
to  include  both  mental  and   bodily   powers,  and  some- 
times it  embraces,  in  addition  to  these,  a  consideration 
of  the  fitness  of  man  for  his  place  in  creation,  and  the 
selection  and  use  of  the  means  required  for  this  purpose. 
All  these  ends  are  legitimate,  but  the  propriety  of  in- 


7 


WHAT    IS    EDUCATION?  39 

eluding  them   all   under   the   term   Education   has  been 
questioned.  r^ 

6/  If  the   subject  is  to  be  treated  as   a   science,    its  (ijf 
scope  must  be  limited  to  things  connected  together  in        'c^ 
accordance    with    laws    applying    to    them    in    common.     ^     ^ 
The  limits  of  a  science  are,   in    one    direction,  a  cause, 
and  in  the  other  direction  an  effect.     If  we  attempt  to*^ 
connect  the  development  of  the  body  and  «the  develop- 

/feent  of  the  mind  together  as  one  science,  we  ought  to 
be  able  both  to  trace  the  specific  forms  of  mental  devel- 
^  opment  to  specific  physical  forms,  and  then  to  trace  the 
development  of  these  by  a  common  law  of  causation. 
But  we  can  not  trace  the  connection  of  body  and  mind, 
except  in  a  general  way,  and  not  knowing  whether  any 
specific  physical  forms  are  required  for  particular  mental 
development  or  not,  we  can  not  say  any  thing  about  the 
development  of  these  forms.  We  can  only  say,  in 
general,  that  the  body  should  be  sound  to  secure  tli£ 
highest  development  of  the  mind.  On  the  other  handTl 
if  we  connect  with  the  development  of  mind  the  use  of  ^J^ 
the  powers  to  be  developed,  the  end  of  existence  must  I 
be  considered  as  the  effect  to  be  explained,  and  the 
mental  powers  the  cause.  This  would  make  the  science  / 
of  Education  the  science  of  duty  or  correct  conduct./ 
But  if  we  are  seeking  to  explain  the  developed  forms  of* 
the  mental  faculties,  we  must  consider  them  as  an  effect, 
and,  as  was  said  in  the  first  chapter,  this  effect  will  con- 
stitute the  limit  of  the  science  in  this  direction,  and  the 
purpose  of  this  effect  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
science.  We  may  fairly  limit  the  science  of  Education^  then,] 
to  the  causes  of  the  development  of  the  mental  powers. 


^ 


CHAPTER  IV. 


REFLECTIVE   CONSCIOUSNESS. 


^ 


ISCUSSIONS  designed  to  show  what 
consciousness  is  have  been  numerous,  and 
conclusions  diverse.  It  is  not  strange  that 
this  is  so.  The  thing  which  is  represented 
by  the  word  has  not  an  existence  by 
itself,  and  it  is  manifested  in  infinitely  varied  degrees  of 
obscurity  and  clearness.  All  knowledge  comes  into  dis- 
tinct consciousness  slowly.  A  child's  first  consciousness 
comes  only  after  many  impressions  have  been  made  upon 
the  senses;  and  in  the  same  manner  we  shall  see,  if  we 
consider  the  various  grades  of  animal  life,  that  what  may 
be  called  types  of  consciousness  change  gradually  as  we 
rise  in  the  scale  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest.  Natural- 
ists have  denied  consciousness  proper  to  the  lower  ani- 
mals. 

2.  As  consciousness  develops  slowly  in  the  individual, 
so  also  it  has  developed  slowly  in  the  race.  Even  the 
senses  are  able  to  give  a  greater  variety  of  conscious  dis- 
tinctions as  men  advance  in  civilization.  There  are  dis- 
tinctions of  sound  and  color  which  apparently  were  not 
recognized  by  the  ancients,  and  which  are  not  recognized 
by  barbarous  tribes  in  any  age,  but  which  are  now  com- 
mon in  civilized  communities.  Only  the  more  dazzling 
colors  and  the  shriller  sounds  excite  the  attention  of 
savages. 

3.  In  accord  with  this  slow  growth  of  consciousness 
has  been  the  recognition  of  the  thing  itself.     It  is  said 

(40) 


REFLECTIVE    CONSCIOUSNESS.  4 1  , 

that  it  had  no  recognition  in  classical  Greek  philosophy,  \\y 
and   there   is   no   classical   Greek  word   for  it;  and  the!  ci 
Romans,  who  gave  us  the  word  consciousness,  did  not  j       V 
distinguish   between    it    and    conscience.     But,    however  I   /a 
obscure  our  notion  may  be,  the  fact  that  this  notion  has,  ^^  / 
been  growing  in  positiveness  and  clearness  in  the  past, 
and  the  fact  of  the  important  place  which  consciousness 
occupies  in  the  philosophy  of  mind,  warrant  the  behef 
that  the  conception  will  finally  be  classified  in  a  manner 
more  satisfactory  than  in  the  past.     It  will  be  the  effort 
here  to  give  it  a  fixed  place,  and  assign  to  it  a  clear  and 
consistent  office,  in  order  that  uncertainty  and  obscurity 
may  be  avoided  in  its  use. 

4.  Consciousness  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  the  mind  _  ^\ 
knowing,  feeling,  or  willing.  This  assumes  the  existence  \  . 
of  the  mind  in  two  states,  the  one  conscious  and  the 
other  unconscious.  According  to  the  definition,  con- 
sciousness is  the  same  thing  as  the  mind  in  a  conscious 
state.  This  is  clear  and  definite,  but  no  philosophical 
writer  ever  uses  the  term  in  a  manner  consistent  with  this 
description.  This  fact  is  sufficient  to  show  that  our  com- 
mon conception  of  the  thing  designated  is  not  adequately 
described  by  the  definition.  For  evidence,  one  has  only 
to  look  anywhere  at  Sir  William  Hamilton's  use  of  the 
term.  Instead  of  using  the  word  to  designate  the  min(f 
in  one  of  the  two  states  spoken  of,  it  seems  more  natural 
to  use  it  to  designate  that  which  distinguishes  between  the^ 
two  states.  It  can  not  be  separated  from  mind  except  in 
thought,  as  motion  can  not  be  separated  from  a  moving 
object,  but  we  can  think  of  it  separately.  J/ 

a.   In  the  first  place,  it  should  be  distinguished  from  JU   y 
mind.     Consciousness  is  not  essential  to  our  conception 
of  mind,  for  mind  may  exist  as  a  potential  energy  without      h^ 
consciousness.  >__/ 

s.  E.-4. 


/ 


42  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

b.   In  the  second  place,  it  should  be  distinguished  from 

J/       the   faculties   for   the    same   reason  that   mind  is  distin- 

S^  guished  from  the  faculties,  for  it,  like  the  mind,  is  com- 

j^        mon  to  the  exercise  of  them  all.     It  is  a  characteristic  of 

\  the  mind  when  acting,  and  it  is  a  characteristic  of  each 

of  the  faculties  when  acting.     By  this  is  meant  that  the 

mind,  when  acting,  manifests  itself  in  some  form,  which 

we  call  the  activity  of  a  faculty,  and  consciousness  is  an 

element  in  every  such  activity,  and  we  try  to  separate  it 

in  thought  both  from  the  mind  and  from  the  faculty. 

5.  To  discover  what  this  characteristic  is,  let  us  take 
any  sentence,  as,  The  rod  is^  iron,  and  analyze  the  mental 
activities  expressed.  The  word  rod,  in  the  sentence, 
designates  an  object,  and  the  word  iron,  material.  The 
conception  of  the  one  comes  from  an  immediate  percep- 
tion, and  the  conception  of  the  other  from  memory. 
Leaving  out  of  account,  for  the  present,  the  conscious- 
ness involved  in  the  formation  of  these  conceptions,  let 
us  seek  for  the  element  of  consciousness  involved  in  the 
sentence  as  a  whole, — that  is,  as  a  unit  of  mental 
activity.  The  word  rod  designates  the  object  as  it 
exists  apart  from  the  mind,  and  the  word  iron  the  material 
in  the  same  way.  But  the  word  is  represents  a  separate 
activity  by  which  we  connect  together  the  conceptions  of 
the  rod  and  iron.  If  asked  how  we  know  the  affirmation 
to  be  true,  we  should  say  we  are  conscious  of  the  fact 
stated.  The  perception  of  the  rod  and  the  memory  of 
iron  have  no  connection  with  each  other  except  in  con- 
sciousness. We  assert  identity  because  of  this  conscious- 
ness. 

6.  But  in  the  conceptions  of  the  rod  and  iron  there 
was  a  consciousness  of  the  existence  of  the  rod  and  of 
the  memory  of  the  material.  The  entire  office  of  con- 
sciousness in  this  assertion,  then,  is  to  affirm  existence  of 


/ 


REFLECTIVE    CONSCIOUSNESS.  43 

the  rod,  and  identify  it  with  the  conception  of  iron  called 
up  in  memory.     We  may  define  consciousness,  then,  as         \v 
follows :  c^A 

(i.)    Consciousness  is  the  predication  of  being  and  identity  %    / 
in  the  activity  of  the  mind.     Or, 

(2.)    Consciousness  is  the  copulative  of  thought.     Or, 
(3.)   Consciousness    is    the    unifying    element    in    mental 
growth. 

7.  In  language^!  consciousness Hs  represented  by  the/ij 
neuter  verb  orj^pula.  J  The  only  explanation   we   can^     ^ 
make  of   the  copula   is   that   we   are   conscious   of    the     S^ 
identity  of  subject  and  predicate.     This  use  of  the  neuter  ^ 
verb  is  still  further  seen  when  we  consider  the  use  of  the 
modal  adverbs  not^  perhaps^  probably^  and  so  forth.    These 

all  indicate  degrees  of  certainty  in  our  conscious  appre- 
hension of  the  agreement  of  subject  and  predicate. 

8.  Metaphysicians  differ  from  each  other  in  their  views 
of  the  relations  of  mind  to  matter,  some  holding  to  an 
immediate  knowledge  of  the  external  world,  while  others 
say  the  mind  has  immediate  knowledge  only  of  its  own 
acts  and  states.  But,  whichever  of  these  views  is  held, 
consciousness,  if  it  is  a  characteristic  of  every  activity  of 
the  mental  faculties,  must  be  equally  relied  upon  to  pred- 
icate existence  and  identity  of  the  objects  of  knowledge. 

9.  The  term  reflective  is  applied  to  consciousness  here 
to  represent  it  as  growing  by  comparing  one  thing  with 
another.  This  is  the  character  of  the  human  conscious- 
ness, and  to  develop  this  consciousness  is  the  object  of 
education.  <;g^7^^^^iZL    (S^ 


CHAPTER  V. 


UNCONSCIOUS   BEGINNINGS. 


HE  sphere  of  the  Science  of  Education 
lies  between  the  unconscious  conditions 
of  mental  activity,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  fixed  forms  of  developed  conscious- 
ness on  the  other.  It  is  not  for  us  to  in- 
quire here  into  the  origin  of  the  mind,  but  we  need  to 
know  what  is  put  into  it  at  the  beginning,  that  we  may- 
know  what  education  has  to  deal  with.  This  limit  of 
the  science  will  be  considered  under  the  heads  of  Native 
Energy,  Heredity,  Unconscious  Tuition,  and  Uncon- 
scious Physiological  Relations. 

I.    NATIVE  ENERGY. 

I.  In  order  to  account  for  the  development  of  heat  in 
a  piece  of  burning  coal,  it  is  necessary  to  suppose  that  the 
coal,  before  burning,  possesses  a  certain  amount  of 
energy  held  in  equilibrium  capable  of  becoming  heat. 
In  the  same  way,  in  order  to  account  for  the  manifesta- 
tion of  thought,  feeling,  and  volition,  it  is  necessary  to 
suppose  that  the  mind  is  originally  endowed  with  an 
energy  capable  of  revealing  itself  in  these  forms.  As  the 
energy  held  in  equilibrium  in  the  piece  of  coal  remains 
inactive  until  it  is  developed  into  activity  by  raising  it  to 
the  proper  temperature,  so  we  may  conceive  of  the 
Native  Energy  of  the  mind  as  latent  until  stimulated  by 
proper  means  into  forms  of  activity. 

(44) 


NATIVE    ENERGY.  45 

2.  The  notion  attributed  to  some  early  philosophers 
that  the  mind  possesses  ideas  as  an  inheritance  or  by- 
virtue  of  its  constitution  must  be  regarded  as  satisfactorily 
disproved  by  Locke ;  but  the  notion  which  he  substituted 
for  it,  that  the  untrained  mind  is  like  a  piece  of  blank 
paper  must  as  certainly  be  rejected.  There  are  no  more 
ideas  in  the  undeveloped  mind  than  expressions  of 
thought  on  a  piece  of  white  paper;  but  the  ideas  that 
may  be  developed  in  the  mind  are  not  subject  so  abso- 
lutely to  the  will  of  a  teacher  as  the  writing  on  paper  is 
subject  to  the  will  of  the  writer.  The  teacher  should  first 
of  all  rise  to  the  conception  of  the  mind  he  seeks  to 
develop  as  possessing  an  energy  capable  of  developing 
only  into  certain  fixed  and  definite  forms  of  action,  and 
in  accordance  with  fixed  laws,  and  should  learn  that  to 
attempt  to  put  other  things  there,  or  to  develop  the 
energy  regardless  of  mental  laws  is  futile.  Native  Energy 
exists  under  certain  well-defined  Laws. 

Law  L — Native  Energy  is  Limited  in  Amount. 

First  Proof. — While  we  never  more  than  approximate 
the' limit  to  which  energy  may  be  developed  in  any  case, 
the  highest  point  ever  reached  by  one  is  not  so  far  above 
the  attainment  of  others  as  to  justify  the  belief  that  the 
energy  is  limitless.  We  do  not  reach  the  limit  of  the 
possible  exhaustion  of  air  in  the  use  of  the  air-pump,  yet 
the  air  in  a  receiver  is  finite  in  quantity. 

Second  Proof . — Mental  Energy  shows  signs  of  exhaustion 
by  mental  or  bodily  exercise.  There  is  a  limit  to  the 
exercise  of  memory,  thought,  and  attention. 

Third  Proof. — Mental  Energy  does  not  develop  steadily 
in  proportion  to  opportunities  throughout  the  period  of 
mental  vigor.     There  is  a  period  of  growth,  and  this  is 


46  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

followed    by    a    period    for    the    use    of  the   intellectual 
powers. 

Observation. 

It  would  seem  to  follow,  from  this  Law,  that  it  is  better 
to  postpone  the  development  of  a  mental  faculty  than  to 
exhaust  the  possibilities  of  development  by  erroneous 
education.  There  is  probably  a  limit  of  age  before 
which  it  is  of  Httle  use  to  try  to  develop  the  set  forms 
of  mental  action,  and  another  limit  after  which  develop- 
ment is  more  difficult,  but  the  period  between  these 
limits  is  long  enough  to  allow  a  considerable  choice  as 
to  the  time  when  the  most  important  educational  work 
shall  be  done,  and  yet  secure  the  development  of  Native 
Energy  to  its  practical  limits.  We  need  neither  despair 
of  a  child  because  he  can  not  go  to  a  Kindergarten  at 
three,  nor  conclude  with  Rousseau  that  the  time  spent  in 
systematic  discipline  before  twelve  is  worse  than  wasted. 

Law  II. — Native  Energy  is  Limited  in  the  Vari- 
ety OF  Forms  of  which  it  is  Capable. 

Proof. — To  prove  this,  we  need  only  point  to  the  fact 
that  the  blind  and  the  dumb  are  limited  in  the  forms  of 
knowledge  of  which  they  are  capable  as  compared  with 
others  having  their  five  senses.  We  can  easily  conceive 
that  a  sixth  sense  would  add  as  great  a  variety  to  the 
forms  of  knowledge  furnished  by  five  as  the  sense  of 
sight  adds  to  the  knowledge  acquired  by  the  other  four 
senses. 

Law  III. — Native  Energy  Differs  in  Amount  and 
Variety  in  Different  Persons. 

Proof. — If  the  first  two  Laws  are  true,  and  it  is  also 
true  that  the  Creator  has  been  bountiful  in  making  pro- 
vision for  the  loss  of  time  and  opportunities  to  a  certain 


NATIVE  ENERGY.  47 

degree,  as  he  has  been  bountiful  in  supplying  seed  for 
the  reproduction  of  vegetation  a  hundred-fold,  we  can 
only  account  for  the  great  differences  we  see  in  the  same 
family,  the  differences  between  races  living  side  by  side, 
and  the  degeneracy  of  children  whose  parents  have  given 
them  better  training  than  they  themselves  enjoyed,  by 
supposing  there  are  differences  in  Native  Energy. 

Observation. 

If  we  are  to  make  the  most  of  a  child,  it  is  necessary 
to  confine  our  attempts  at  educating  him  to  those  things 
that  are  within  his  reach,  and  direct  his  energy  to  that  of 
which  he  is  capable.  If  we  seek  to  accomplish  a  given 
result,  as  to  establish  a  character  of  truthfulness,  we  must 
adapt  our  efforts  in  kind  and  quantity  to  a  child's  natural 
disposition.  So  it  is  of  all  instruction.  Individuals  are 
to  be  developed,  not  classes. 

Law  IV. — The  Development  of  Native  Energy 
Reveals  a  Relation  between  Intellectual  and  Vital 
Action. 

First  Proof, — Children,  when  growing  most  rapidly 
and  developing  the  physical  powers  that  require  the 
largest  amount  of  vital  energy,  find  it  hardest  to  do 
intellectual  work. 

Second  Proof. — The  intellect  is  caused  to  degenerate  by 
indulgence  of  the  lower  nature  in  intemperance,  gluttony, 
and  other  physical  vices. 

Observation. 

While  this  Law  is  undoubtedly  true,  and  should  lead 
to  an  economy  of  vital  force  for  the  sake  of  increased  in- 
tellectual energy,  yet  some  of  the  brightest  intellects  have 
been  occupants  of  weak  bodies.     Virgil  had  a  weak  con- 


48  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

stitution,  and  Caesar  was  subject  to  the  worst  of  constitu- 
tional maladies. 

Law  V. — Native  Energy  is  Dependent  upon  the 
Physical  Organs  for  Development  and  Expression. 

Proof. — The  proof  of  this  Law  is  seen  in  the  fact  that 
all  our  knowledge  comes  primarily  through  the  senses, 
and  we  do  not  think  of  trying  to  express  our  thoughts 
and  feelings  in  any  other  way  than  by  some  physical 
action. 

Observation. 

To  insure  the  most  complete  development  of  the  mind, 
not  only  the  organs  of  sense,  but  every  organic  structure 
must  be  cared  for  and  kept  in  the  best  condition.  Not 
the  senses  and  the  brain  alone  are  involved  in  thought  and 
action.  Wherever  there  is  a  thrill  of  life,  in  every  part 
of  the  body  to  which  a  nerve  of  feeling  is  supplied,  there 
is  placed  the  possibility  of  a  stimulus  to  mental  action  that 
may  be  the  source  of  good.  Take,  for  instance,  the 
delicate  arrangement  of  nerves  that  enables  one  to  judge 
correctly  the  direction  and  distance  of  sounds.  To  the 
general  on  the  field  of  battle  this  ability  is  often  of  the 
greatest  value.  It  is  said  that  Napoleon's  quick  ear 
enabled  him  to  take  advantage  of  many  an  opportunity 
which  would  otherwise  have  been  lost,  and  thereby  to 
gain  an  easier  victory.  Symmetrical  vital  action  is  neces- 
sary to  symmetrical  mental  development,  and  the  subor- 
dination of  the  whole  body  to  the  mind  is  necessary  to 
the  highest  achievements. 

II.    HEREDITY. 

This  is  too  subtle  and  too  intimately  associated  with  the 
unconscious  and  dimly-seen  influences  of  infancy  to  be 


HEREDITY.  49 

estimated  with  accuracy,  but  it  must  be  regarded  as  a 
factor  of  no  small  importance.  Many  profound  ques- 
tions are  raised  with  regard  to  the  extent  of  this  princi- 
ple, but  the  following  well-established  Laws  are  all  that 
need  to  be  discussed  here. 

Law  I. — There  is  a  Resemblance  between  Children 
AND  Parents  in  the  forms  of  Mental  Activity. 

First  Proof. — The  truth  of  the  Law  is  shown  by  race- 
types.  In  almost  every  race  may  be  found  men  of  the 
highest  order  of  intelligence,  but  each  race  has  peculiari- 
ties of  development  that  appear  in  successive  generations. 
The  Spartan  is  a  hero,  the  Athenian  a  philosopher,  the 
Roman  a  sovereign,  the  Caucasian  intellectual,  the 
African  emotional. 

Second  Proof. — It  is  shown  by  the  progress  of  races  in 
the  development  of  their  characteristics.  This  develop- 
ment has  been  along  certain  lines  that  show  common 
tendencies  in  all  the  members  of  a  race. 

Third  Proof. — It  is  shown  by  the  peculiarities  prevalent 
in  families.  The  likeness  between  parent  and  child  is 
more  likely  to  be  in  some  peculiarity  than  in  general 
intellectual  power.  The  records  of  crime  and  insanity 
reveal  the  hereditary  tendency  in  families  beyond  all  dis- 
pute. A  few  years  ago  an  examination  of  the  statistics 
concerning  one  family  brought  to  light  the  fact  that  within 
four  generations  nearly  one  hundred  of  the  descendants 
of  one  criminal  had  been  incarcerated  for  crime.  In 
1884  there  was  published  a  report  of  the  death  in  Penn- 
sylvania of  the  last  of  a  race  of  mad  people,  whose 
ancestor,  four  generations  back,  had  been  driven  insane 
by  a  murder  committed  in  her  presence.  The  malady 
was  transmitted  in  unbroken  succession  till  the  race  be- 
came extinct. 

S.  E.-5. 


5©  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

Law  II. — Heredity  is  seen  in  General  rather 
THAN  IN  Specific  Characteristics. 

Proof. — The  son  of  a  criminal  has  no  special  tendency 
to  follow  the  same  line  of  criminal  conduct  as  the  parent, 
though  there  may  be  tendencies  to  develop  into  crime  of 
some  kind.  In  the  same  way  a  character  of  virtue  may 
be  transmitted  without  determining  the  specific  form  in 
which  it  will  manifest  itself. 

Law  hi. — Inherited  Traits  are  more  Persistent 
than  the  influence  of  education. 

First  Proof. — It  is  always  found  to  be  harder  to  eradi- 
cate a  habit  that  rests  upon  inherited  tendencies  than  a 
habit  formed  without  such  antecedents. 

Second  Proof. — The  truth  of  the  Law  may  be  seen  es- 
pecially marked  in  the  lower  animals.  The  dog  that  has 
learned  to  swim  seldom  swims  for  mere  sport.  But  when 
the  Dipper  falls  into  the  water  the  first  time  it  will  imme- 
diately begin  to  dip  and  dive,  and  continue  this  till  ex- 
hausted or  hunted  from  the  stream  that  has  half  been  the 
home  of  its  ancestors. 

Observations. 

(I.)  The  ways  that  children  get  from  their  associates 
are  often  bad  enough,  but  those  that  come  from  Heredity 
are  much  harder  to  deal  with.  When  we  see  conduct 
that  leads  us  to  say,  '*  I  do  not  see  where  the  child  got 
that  habit,"  we  may  suspect  it  depends  on  Heredity,  and 
that  it  will  require  the  greatest  care  and  effort  to  eradi- 
cate it. 

(II.)  Inherited  tendencies  are  more  likely  to  find  us 
off  our  guard  than  acquired  habits.  Even  after  we  have 
schooled  ourselves  for  years,  we  may  be  betrayed  into  a 


HEREDITY.  5 1 

bad  habit  unconsciously,  and  if  we  consider  the  cause 
we  will  be  likely  to  find  it  an  inherited  tendency. 

(III.)  An  inherited  tendency  is  often  capable  of  being 
developed  into  either  good  or  bad  conduct.  Whichever 
way  it  shows  itself  it  is  a  strong  power.  If  it  manifests 
itself  in  a  useful  form  it  is  to  be  encouraged;  if  in  an 
evil  way,  the  evil  should  be  checked  by  turning  the 
energy,  if  possible,  in  the  direction  of  that  which  is  use- 
ful. Means  are  too  often  employed  to  eradicate  an  evil 
tendency  whereby  the  possibilities  of  good  are  destroyed, 
when  a  little  skill  would  have  developed  the  good  to  such 
an  extent  as  to  utilize  all  the  energy  and  leave  none  to  be 
expended  on  evil  ways.  There  are  few  words  more 
abused  in  theory  and  practice  than  the  word  thorough. 
That  every  thing  should  be  well  done  when  finished  is 
true,  but  as  much  of  the  material  used  in  building  passes 
through  stages  when  it  seems  rough  work,  so  the  energy 
out  of  which  character  is  built  often  displays  itself  in  ugly 
forms.  To  crush  out  this  energy  is  thought  to  be  a 
thorough  method  of  dealing  with  the  evil,  but  by  so  doing 
much  good  is  destroyed.  No  doubt  Charles  I.  desired 
to  rule  the  English  people  well,  and  rebellion  against  con- 
stituted authority  is  a  great  evil.  But,  if  the  king  had 
appreciated  the  fact  that  the  love  of  liberty  which  had 
been  ingrained  into  the  very  constitutions  of  his  subjects 
was  not  inconsistent  with  loyalty,  he  might  have  turned 
to  good  account  that  spirit  which  he  roused  by  his  radical 
methods  to  his  own  destruction.  The  Earl  of  Strafford 
saw  no  way  of  enforcing  loyalty  except  by  crushing  out 
the  love  of  liberty,  and  this  he  sought  to  do  by  means 
that  won  for  him  the  title  of  ''Thorough,"  though  it 
failed  to  bring  any  good,  either  to  the  people  or  his 
prince.  Many  of  the  faults  of  children  are  manifesta- 
tions of  a  strength  of   character  that  may  become  the 


52  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

foundation  of  great  success,  if  wisely  guided.  If  chil- 
dren are  indolent  from  a  love  of  indolence  there  is  little 
to  hope  for;  but  if  they  are  idle  because  restrained  from 
the  kind  of  exercise  they  like,  or  because  no  motive  is 
brought  before  them  adapted  to  rouse  their  energy,  the 
case  is  one  that  calls  for  ingenuity  in  seeking  to  find  out 
their  natural  inclinations.  Regular  methods  of  study  and 
discipline  should  be  adhered  to,  but  they  should  be  broad 
enough  and  flexible  enough  to  make  the  best  possible  use 
of  the  infinitely  varied  tendencies  of  different  pupils. 
The  teacher  should  be  broad-minded  and  large-hearted. 
(IV.)  Education  should  be  directed  to  secure  individ- 
uality. The  law  of  the  persistence  of  inherited  tenden- 
cies implies  likeness,  and  if  the  teacher  adds  his  effort  to' 
develop  the  mind  of  every  child  in  the  same  way,  only 
those  forms  of  power  which  are  common  to  all  will  be 
brought  to  perfection.  This  may  secure  a  high  develop- 
ment of  some  particular  characteristic,  but  it  will  not 
develop  a  variety  of  powers,  one  of  which  may  be  great 
in  one,  and  another  in  another.  So  long  as  a  people  is 
advancing  in  civilization,  there  will  be  strong  marks  of 
individuality  among  the  members  of  any  community.  A 
growing  civilization  develops  personality  in  the  very 
features  of  a  people.  There  is  greater  difference  in  ap- 
^^pearance  among  the  members  of  a  civilized  community 
|\  than  among  savages.  The  variety  of  forms  of  intellectual 
j  development  is  still  more  marked.  The  civilized  nation 
is  greatly  superior  to  an  uncivilized  race  in  diversity  of 
kknowledge,  occupation,  and  capability.  In  an  educated 
community  one  person  can  do  one  thing  well,  and 
another  another  thing.  In  a  savage  tribe  but  few  things 
can  be  done  well  at  all.  The  teacher  should  seek  to 
foster  this  individuality,  and  bring  into  activity  the  best 
thing  in  each  one  of  his  pupils. 


UNCONSCIOUS   TUITION.  53 

(V.)  The  law  of  inheritance  runs  through  a  long  time 
without  being   always   manifest.      The    right    to    inherit 
property  does  not  lapse  by  time,  but  the  actual  possession 
is  often  missed  by  many  generations.     The  same  is  true 
of  mental  characteristics.     Plutarch  has  handed  down  thcx 
story  of  a  Caucasian  pair  whose  child  developed  Ethiopian  \ 
features.     When  the  cause  was  investigated,  it  was  found  / 
that  one  of  the  mother's  ancestors  four  generations  before  / 
was  an  Ethiopian.     While  the  temporary  disappearance 
of  inherited  characteristics  makes  the  subject  of  heredity- 
more  obscure,  it  does  not  diminish  the  importance  of  giv- 
ing the  greatest  heed  to  those  traits  of  character  that  cling 
more  persistently  to  a  child  than  other  traits.     This  im- 
portance has  reference  both  to  those  traits  that  should  be 
checked  and  those  which  should  be  fostered  as  the  foun- 
dation of  the  child's  greatest  possibilities. 

III.    UNCONSCIOUS    TUITION. 

The  influences  that  do  not  rise  to  the  grade  of  securing 
conscious  activity,  and  which  yet  affect  the  character,  are 
often  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from  hereditary  tenden- 
cies. They  are  as  important,  perhaps,  as  Heredity  or 
even  directly  formal  instruction.  They  include  the 
influence  of  events  and  objects  of  which  the  mind  is  not 
conscious,  though  in  their  presence,  and  the  incidental 
influences  that  escape  consciousness  in  the  case  of  objects 
to  which  particular  attention  is  given.  We  think  of  an 
object  for  one  purpose,  but  incidentally  its  influence  on 
us  is  much  wider  than  our  thoughts. 

Law  I. — Unconscious  Tuition  lays  a  Foundation 
FOR  Conscious  Development. 

J^t'rsf  Pi'oof. — We  are  able  to  trace  conscious  states  of 
the  mind  back  through  grades  of  less  and  less  distinct 


54  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

consciousness  to  a  point  where  consciousness  disappears, 
although  the  same  stimulus  is  active  as  when  there  is  the 
most  complete  activity  of  mind.  We  must  suppose  that 
this  stimulus  is  making  unconscious  impressions,  which, 
when  often  enough  repeated,  develop  into  consciousness. 
Second  Proof. — We  can  not  account  for  the  develop- 
ment of  the  first  conscious  activity  without  supposing  it  a 
product  of  combined  unconscious  impressions. 

Observation. 

The  Unconscious  Tuition  of  children  before  they  are 
old  enough  to  have  many  distinct  thoughts,  added  to  the 
influence  of  Heredity,  lays  a  foundation  for  most  of  the 
character  that  develops  later  in  life.  It  has  been  seen 
that  hereditary  tendencies  are  permanent.  We  must 
also  suppose  unconscious  influences  to  be  permanent  in 
their  eff'ects  in  order  to  make  them  the  foundation  of  any 
growth.  We  sometimes  wonder  what  a  child's  thoughts 
are.  It  probably  has  no  thoughts,  but  is  getting  ready  to 
think.  The  mind  is  being  prepared  by  unconscious  im- 
pressions that  will  determine  what  its  thoughts  shall  be 
when  it  does  think,  and  volumes  have  been  written  to 
show  the  importance  of  this  period  of  a  child's  life. 
When  the  teacher  receives  a  pupil,  he  has,  in  the  main, 
passed  through  the  period  of  this  tuition,  and  the  teacher 
must  take  the  character  of  the  tuition  into  account  as  a 
part  of  the  foundation  on  which  he  is  to  build. 

Law  II. — The  Unconscious  Tuition  of  any  Period 
OF  Youth  has  its  Value  and  Direction  determined 
BY  THE  Character  already  Formed. 

Proof. — A  teacher's  character  and  habits  exert  an  un- 
conscious influence  on  pupils,  but  this  influence  is  yery 
different  on  different  pupils.     A  habit  of  carelessness  will 


UNCONSCIOUS    PHYSIOLOGICAL    RELATIONS.  55 

make  a  careless  boy  more  careless  still,  but  a  neat  and 
careful  boy  is  not  likely  to  be  affected.  A  bad  habit  will 
encourage  a  boy  that  has  the  same  bad  habit,  or  a  ten- 
dency to  it,  while  it  will  repel  a  boy  with  a  character  of 
an  opposite  tendency  already  established. 

Observation. 

Our  words  and  actions  bear  in  many  directions.  We 
do  not  know  what  preparation  there  may  be  in  the  un- 
conscious life  of  the  children  of  a  school-room  to  stir  at 
suggestions  of  which  we  ourselves  have  taken  little 
thought.  Refinement  of  character  and  gentility  of  man- 
ner come  from  a  sensitiveness  formed  by  unconscious 
influences. 

IV.    UNCONSCIOUS    PHYSIOLOGICAL    RELATIONS. 

We  are  conscious  of  the  activity  of  our  senses  and  of 
the  exercise  of  our  wills  in  muscular  action.  But  the 
body  possesses  much  power  over  the  mind  of  which  we 
are  not  directly  conscious. 

Law  I. — Physical  TeiMPerament  Exercises  an  Un- 
conscious Influence  in  producing  Happiness  or 
Misery. 

Proof. — Children  whose  physical  organization  is  so  per- 
fect and  well-balanced  that  they  enjoy  eating,  exercise, 
and  other  pleasures  with  uniformity,  but  never  to  excess, 
and  who  are  not  oversensitive  in  any  physical  organs, 
will  be  happy  under  circumstances  that  would  make  other 
children  peevish  and  fretful.  On  the  other  hand,  chil- 
dren who  are  so  constituted  as  to  have  keen  enjoyment  of 
particular  pleasures  are  apt  to  have  corresponding  irrita- 
bility.    Mature  reflection  is  unable  to  bring  an  unhappy 


56  THE    SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

temperament  under  the  control  of  reason,  so  as  to  save 
its  possessor  from  fits  of  causeless  despondency,  while 
buoyancy  of  spirits  will  sustain  a  Mark  Tapley  under  the 
most  discouraging  and  distressing  circumstances. 

Observation. 

A  settled  feeling  of  despondency  is  liable  to  grow  out 
of  indulgence  in  the  extremes  of  happiness  and  misery, 
and  to  avoid  this  it  is  desirable  to  temper  the  joys  and 
sorrows  of  childhood.  Allowance  should  also  be  made 
for  children  of  an  unhappy  temperament,  and  children  of 
a  more  equable  temperament  will  bear  more  crowding  in 
their  work. 

Law  II. — Physical  Derangement  often  Insensibly 
Affects  the  Mind. 

Proof. — Disease,  bad  air,  indigestion,  weariness,  and 
the  lack  of  physical  exercise  have  their  influence  on  the 
mind  and  spirits  long  before  we  are  conscious  of  it.  The 
chilled  sleeper  is  not  conscious  of  his  chiUiness,  and 
never  wakes  to  throw  off  his  stupor.  Bodily  infirmities 
and  inconveniences  extend  even  to  an  influence  upon 
moral  conduct,  and  the  importance  of  taking  them  into 
account  in  the  discipline  of  the  family,  the  school,  and 
prison  is  very  great. 

Observation. 

The  teacher's  judgment  must  be  relied  upon  to  detect 
and  remove  causes  of  uneasiness  and  inattention  which 
act  upon  the  mind  in  an  unconscious  manner. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    MENTAL    FACULTIES. 

HE  limit  of  the  Science  of  Education  in 
the  direction  of  effect  is  the  developed 
forms  of  reflective  consciousness.  These 
forms  of  consciousness  are  classified  under 
what  are  called  Mental  Faculties. 

2.  A  general  classification  of  the  Faculties  may  be 
drawn  from  a  simple  illustration.  A  child  sees  an  orange, 
and  this  brings  up  to  his  mind  the  recollection  of  having 
seen  and  tasted  of  oranges  before.  The  sight  of  the 
orange,  and  the  recollection  of  the  pleasure  of  eating 
oranges  previously,  excite  pleasure  anew,  and  the  pleasure 
leads  him  to  desire  this  orange  and  to  reach  after  it. 
Here  are  manifested  three  kinds  of  mental  activities. 
The  sight  of  the  orange  and  the  recollection  are  kinds  of 
knowledge;  the  pleasure  is  a  feeling,  and  the  desire  and 
effort  to  obtain  the  orange  are  exercises  of  volition.  In 
accordance  with  the  facts  of  this  illustration,  Psychologists 
generally  agree  in  making  three  classes  of  Mental  Facul- 
ties, which  they  call  Cognition,   Feeling,  and  Will. 

a.  The  activities  which  end  in  knowledge  of  any  kind 
are  called  Cognitions. 

b.  The  activities  which  end  in  a  consciousness  of 
pleasure  or  pain  are  called  Feelings. 

c.  The  activities  which  end  in  desire,  resolution,  or 
endeavor  are  called  Volitions. 

3.  Cognitions. — The  Cognitions  are  of  various  classes, 
and  their  arrangement  under  different  intellectual  facul- 
ties may  be  seen  from  the  following  illustration. 

(57) 


58  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

a.  We  know  that  all  points  in  the  circumference  of  a 
circle  are  equally  distant  from  the  center.  The  idea  of 
the  circle  spoken  of  is  not  of  a  particular  circle  but  any 
circle  that  may  be  supposed.  The  idea  of  the  circumfer- 
ence is  not  of  a  material  line,  and  the  idea  of  the  center 
is  not  of  a  material  point.  These  ideas  are  all  distinct 
from  the  ideas  of  circles,  curves,  and  points  that  have 
been  actually  seen.  In  order  to  form  such  ideas,  the 
mind  must  have  a  power  adapted  to  these  activities. 
This  power  is  called  the  Faculty  of  Reason. 

b.  In  order  to  know  that  the  distances  are  equal,  we 
must  be  able  to  compare  one  distance  with  another,  and 
the  ideas  of  different  circles  with  each  other,  and  draw 
conclusions  from  our  comparisons.  The  power  by  which 
such  activities  are  caused  is  called  the  Elaborative 
Faculty,  the  Faculty  of  Comparison   or  Reasoning. 

c.  But  not  having  material  circles  to  handle,  the  mind 
must  have  the  power  to  hold  before  itself  the  ideas  of 
circles,  circumferences,  and  so  forth,  and  place  them  side 
by  side,  or  one  upon  another,  with  as  much  distinctness 
as  the  consciousness  of  the  forms  of  material  things 
would  possess.  This  power  is  called  the  Faculty  of 
Imagination.  By  it  we  may  form  an  idea  or  image  that 
represents  an  object  of  experience,  and  then  the  Faculty 
is  called  Reproductive  Imagination ;  or  we  may  put 
images  together  in  any  order  we  please,  when  we  call  it 
Constructive  Imagination. 

d.  But  the  mind  would  not  be  able  to  produce  these 
images  of  circles  and  circumferences  unless  ideas  had 
been  produced  in  the  mind  in  some  other  way  which 
these  images  resemble.  In  order  to  form  the  images,  the 
ideas  previously  in  the  mind  must  be  more  or  less  clearly 
recalled.  The  power  by  which  ideas  are  recalled  and 
associated    with    the    past    is    called    the    Reproductive 


THE    MENTAL    FACULTIES.  59 

Faculty.  It  differs  from  the  Reproductive  Imagination 
in  associating  the  present  with  the  past,  while  the  Imagi- 
nation is  confined  to  the  formation  of  vivid  outHnes  or 
pictures. 

e.  In  order  to  recall  ideas,  they  must  be  held  in  the 
mind  as  some  form  of  mental  modification,  though  out 
of  consciousness,  and  this  is  secured  by  the  Faculty  of 
Retention. 

/.  Finally,  since  the  mind  possesses  no  ideas  in  the 
beginning,  it  must  acquire  them  before  there  can  be  any 
to  retain.  The  power  by  which  knowledge  is  originally 
obtained  is  called  the  Acquisitive  Faculty.  This  Faculty 
involves  the  activity  of  the  mind  through  the  senses, 
called  Perception,  and  the  knowledge  of  one's  own 
mental  states,  or  Self-Consciousness.  The  Cognitive 
Faculties,  named  in  the  order  of  their  development,  are 
as  follows : 

...        f  I.  Perception. 

1.  Acquisitive    \  c,    ^rr- 

^  (2.   Self-Consciousness. 

2.  Retentive,  or  Memory. 

3.  Reproductive,  or  Recollection. 

4.  Representative,  or  Imagination. 

5.  Elaborative,  or  Comparison.  ^ 

6.  Regulative,  or  Reason. 

Of  these  forms  of  knowledge.  Acquisition  must  be  first 
in  conscious  activity,  for  the  activity  of  the  other  Facul- 
ties presupposes  this. 

4.  Feelings. — The  Feelings  of  pleasure  and  pain  are 
of  two  kinds:  those  that  attend  physical  activity,  and 
those  that  attend  intellectual  activity.  Of  these  activities, 
two  things  are  to  be  observed  in  this  place;  first,  that  it  is 
not  necessary  that  the  sense  of  pleasure  or  pain  should 
be  strong  enough  to  draw  the  attention  upon  itself  as 
pleasurable  or  painful,  to  justify  us  in  calling  the  sensa- 


6o  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

tion  a  Feeling.     Mental  activity  has  an  element  of  con- 
scious excitement  that  is  not  knowledge,  and  this  element 
may  be  a  decided  pleasure  or  a  decided  pain,    it   may 
combine  the  two,  or  it  may  be  so  weak  as  to  possess  no 
decided   character   of    either    in    consciousness.     In    the 
second  place,  conscious  Feelings  must  follow  cognition. 
The  intellectual  Feelings,  being  such  as  depend  upon  the 
action  of  the  faculties  of  knowing,  are  of  necessity  sub- 
sequent to  the  beginning  of  this  activity.     But  the  con- 
scious physical  Feelings  are  as  dependent  upon  intellect- 
ual Feelings.     We  must  at  least  be  conscious  of  self  in 
order  to  be  conscious  of  any  pleasure  or  pain,  and  self- 
consciousness  is  a  kind  of   knowledge.     The  pains  that 
we  can  not  locate  in  sickness  and  nervous  irritability  do 
not  manifest  themselves  in  consciousness  unless  there  is 
first  a  consciousness  of  self.     The  pleasures  of  taste  and 
smell,  and  of  the  other  senses,  come  into  consciousness 
as  sensations  only  as  we  are  conscious  of  an  action  of 
these  senses  that  gives  us  knowledge.     Whatever  modifi- 
cation there  may  be  of  the  senses  previous  to  conscious 
perception,    is  below  consciousness,  and  does  not  need 
consideration  here.     Up  to  this  point,  then,  the  begin- 
ning of  all  conscious  activity  is  in  the  acquisitive  faculty. 
5.   Volitions. — a.    It   has   been   said   above   that   the 
Volitions  end  either  in  the  consciousness  of  desire,  reso- 
lution, or  endeavor.     That  activities  of  the  will  are  con- 
nected together,  and  follow  each  other  in  the  order  in 
which  they  are  here  named,  is  evident  from  the  following 
illustration :  an  invalid,  seeing  the  sun  shine  in  through 
the  window  of  his  room,  desires  to  enjoy  the  fresh  morn- 
ing air.     This  desire  is   cherished   until   he   resolves  to 
make  the  effort  to  go  out  where  the  enjoyment  may  be 
had.     The  resolution  is  followed  by  the  effort  and  the  end 
is  gained. 


THE    MENTAL    FACULTIES.  6 1 

b.  That  a  Volition  may  end  in  desire,  in  resolution, 
or  endeavor,  is  clear  from  the  following  illustration : 
the  farmer  desires  rain  or  the  sailor  a  fair  wind.  Neither 
can  do  any  thing  to  obtain  the  object  desired;  and, 
although  they  would  do  much  to  obtain  the  end  if  they 
could,  their  wills  must  stop  with  desire.  But  each  deter- 
mines to  take  advantage  of  the  event  desired  if  it  should 
happen, — the  farmer  to  plant  his  field  if  it  should  rain, 
and  the  sailor  to  put  to  sea  if  the  wind  should  be  fair. 
Each  may  be  compelled  to  stop  with  the  resolution.  The 
rain  comes  and  the  farmer  puts  in  his  seed,  the  wind  blows 
fair  and  the  sailor  unfurls  his  sails,  and  the  Volition  has 
reached  its  culmination. 

c.  That  desire  is  separate  from  feeling  and  follows  it, 
is  manifest  from  the  following  considerations.  The  feel- 
ings culminate  as  feelings  in  a  sense  of  pleasure  or  pain, 
while  the  Volition  culminates  in  active  endeavor.  The 
end  of  desire  is  the  attainment  of  the  purposes  of  the 
Will,  not  the  pleasure  of  a  contemplation  of  it.  From  this 
consideration,  desire  must  be  classified  as  the  beginning 
of  a  Volition.  But  one  can  not  desire  any  thing  that  is 
not  represented  to  the  mind  in  such  a  way  that  the  repre- 
sentation excites  a  feeling  of  pleasure  to  be  prolonged  or 
pain  to  be  avoided.  Hence,  feeling  must  precede 
Volitions. 

6.  As  the  feelings  follow  cognitions,  so  the  volitions  are 
seen  to  follow  the  feelings.  These  different  mental  activi- 
ties depend  one  upon  another,  and  can  follow  each  other 
only  in  the  order  named;  and  as  the  cognitions  are  first, 
and  the  acquisitive  faculty  gives  the  first  cognitions,  it 
follows  that  the  first  conscious  activity  must  be  one  of 
perception  or  self-consciousness. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

GENERAL  LAW  OF  MENTAL  DEVELOPMENT. 

MONG  the  things  that  lay  doubtful 
claims  to  the  rank  of  a  science  is  Educa- 
tion. The  doubt  is  not  raised  with  regard 
to  the  character  of  the  thing  itself,  but 
with  regard  to  our  understanding  and  treat- 
ment of  it.  As  before  stated,  a  science  is  formulated  in 
laws  bound  together  in  one  system  by  some  general 
organic  law.  But  our  understanding  of  the  laws  of 
mental  development  is  so  wanting  in  unity  and  consistency, 
that  however  certain  we  may  be  of  many  of  the  laws  of 
mental  growth,  we  have  not  related  these  laws  together  in 
an  organic  whole.  The  first  step  to  be  taken  is  the  devel- 
opment of  a  General  Law. 

2.  Before  we  can  formulate  a  law  we  must  find  a  prin- 
ciple, and  before  we  can  formulate  a  General  Law  of 
mental  development  we  must  find  a  principle  that  runs 
through  all  the  changes  by  which  development  is  secured. 
If  we  can  find  such  a  principle,  we  may  be  able  to  trace 
a  General  Law,  and  arrange  the  facts  and  known  laws  of 
education  under  it  in  some  systematic  or  scientific 
manner. 

3.  Education  has  been  defined  as  the  process  of  devel- 
oping the  forms  of  reflective  consciousness,  and  conscious- 
ness has  been  defined  as  the  predication  of  being  and 
identity.  The  growth  of  consciousness,  then,  is  growth 
in  the  predication  of  these  two  elements.  The  predica- 
tion of  identity  is  impossible  without  the  predication  of 

(62) 


ORIGIN    OF    CONCEPTS.  6^ 

being,  but  the  predication  of  being  could  never  constitute 
growth.  Were  it  possible  for  us  to  be  conscious  of  any 
number  of  existences,  there  could  be  no  development  of 
consciousness  without  an  act  binding  these  states  of  con- 
sciousness together.  Successive  predications  of  the  same 
thing,  existence,  would  pass  through  the  mind  as  waters 
flow  down  a  river,  and  leave  no  product  of  growth.  It  is 
only  when  two  different  states  of  consciousness  are  com- 
pared with  each  other,  and  a  likeness  is  found  by  which 
they  are  linked  together  in  a  kind  of  larger  unity  of 
thought  that  the  mind  grows.  The  identification  implies 
a  consciousness  of  the  existence  of  things  that  are 
different  from  each  other,  but  the  essential  principle  in  the 
process  of  development  is  the  identification,  the  unifica- 
tion, or  the  synthesis  of  the  different.  This,  then,  is  the 
general  principle  in  mental  development.  By  what  law 
does  the  principle  manifest  itself? 

4.  The  great  work  of  Kant  began  in  an  attempt  to 
show  how  synthesis  of  a  priori  concepts  is  possible.  He 
took  it  for  granted  that  if  we  have  seen  any  thing  as  a 
whole,  and  the  parts  are  presented  to  us,  it  is  possible  to 
put  the  parts  together  again  and  make  the  whole.  The 
mind  may  build  up  a  unit  if  it  has  first  an  idea  of  the 
unit;  hence  it  may  perform  a  synthesis  of  all  objects  of 
experience.  But  how  is  it  possible,  it  was  asked,  to  build 
up  the  idea  of  a  circle  as  a  surface  with  necessary  charac- 
teristics when  we  have  never  seen  a  true  circle?  His 
answer  to  the  question  was  that  while  there  is  no  innate 
idea  of  the  circle  in  the  mind,  yet  there  is  a  native 
capacity  of  the  mind,  depending  on  its  constitution,  in 
consequence  of  which  the  observation  of  that  which  re- 
sembles a  circle  may  develop  the  idea  of  the  perfect 
figure.  But  granting  that  this  supposition  of  a  native  fit- 
ness in  the  constitution  of  the  mind  is  a  sufficient  expla- 


64  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

nation  of  the  possibility  of  building  up  such  notions, 
there  is  still  another  question  back  of  it.  What  explana- 
tion can  be  made  of  the  fact  that  the  mind  does  build  up 
such  notions?  It  is  possible,  but  what  power  makes  the 
possible  actual  ?  This  question  should  be  asked,  not  only 
of  a  priori  synthesis,  but  of  all  synthesis.  Why  does  the 
mind  connect  any  two  sensations  together?  Why  does  it 
take  a  single  step  in  the  process  of  development  ?  Objects 
can  not  of  themselves  give  us  the  consciousness  of  like- 
ness to  each  other.  At  best  they  can  only  give  a 
consciousness  of  being,  and  of  being  what  they  are  indi- 
vidually. By  what  power  does  the  mind  pass  beyond  this 
to  the  consciousness  of  identity,  by  which  it  is  caused  to 
grow  ?  It  is  evident  that  a  correct  answer  to  this  question 
is  the  key  to  the  science  of  mental  development. 

5.  If  the  eye  rests  upon  a  chair,  we  are  able  to  distin- 
guish color,  form,  and  so  forth  through  the  sense  of 
sight,  and  the  perception  of  such  qualities  is  the  end  of  what 
the  organ  of  vision  can  do  for  us.  But  we  do  not  stop 
with  the  contemplation  of  these  separate  qualities. 
Without  any  further  external  stimulus,  the  mind  goes  on 
to  identify  the  color  and  form  with  other  colors  and 
forms  which  we  have  seen,  to  associate  these  qualities 
together  as  belonging  to  one  object,  and  to  identify  this 
object  with  other  objects  we  have  seen ;  and  we  call  such 
an  object  a  chair.  The  idea  thus  gained  remains  a  per- 
manent form  of  thought.  All  this  identification  the  mind 
makes  of  its  own  accord.  Vision  only  stimulates  by  the 
presentation  of  differences.  The  mind  is  awakened  by 
these  and  brought  into  a  state  of  unrest  until  it  unifies 
them,  when  it  is  satisfied,  and  rests  in  the  unity. 

6.  In  a  similar  manner,  different  representations  of  a 
circle  set  the  mind  to  work  to  discover  what  is  the  true 
idea  with  which  all  circles  may  be  identified.     When  the 


GENERAL    LAW.  65 

idea  of  the  true  circle  is  developed,  the  mind  rests  satis- 
fied with  this,  and  has  no  inclination  to  push  its  inquiry 
further.  The  attempt  to  unify  circular  figures,  like  the 
effort  to  identify  the  chair,  is  a  spontaneous  act  of  the 
mind,  of  which  we  can  give  no  other  account  than  to  say 
it  is  the  natural  tendency  of  mental  energy,  when  stimu- 
lated to  action  by  differences,  to  take  this  direction.  The 
discriminations  are  excited  by  objects,  but  the  unification 
is  spontaneous  in  the  mind.  From  such  facts  we  infer 
the  following 

General  Law. — When  Latent  Mental  Energy  is 
Stimulated  to  Activity  by  the  Influence  of  Differ- 
ences in  Objects,  it  is  the  Natural  Tendency  of 
this  Energy  to  Unify  the  Differences,  and  for  the 
Unities  to  become  Fixed  Forms  of  the  Mind,  and  the 
Unification  Restores  the  Equilibrium  of  the  Energy 
Excited. 

7.  If  the  mind  in  unifying  loses  consciousness  of  differ- 
ences, and  retains  only  the  one  point  of  identity,  no 
growth  is  made.  For  instance,  if  we  pass  by  many  men 
on  the  street,  and  we  do  not  distinguish  them  one  from 
another,  but  only  think  of  each  one  as  a  man,  we  gain 
no  distinct  knowledge  beyond  what  would  have  been  im- 
parted by  seeing  the  same  person  many  times.  But  if  the 
mind  holds  its  discriminations  clear  in  consciousness  while 
it  unifies,  it  develops  the  consciousness  of  variety  in  unity, 
and  adds  to  its  power.  Unification  must  contain  con- 
scious discriminations  to  be  development. 

8.  The  unities  of  thought  which  we  seek  to  develop  are 
always  higher  than  conscious  experience.  In  our  concep- 
tions of  an  object  perceived  by  the  senses,  we  bind  the 
qualities  of  matter  together  by  a  power  in  the  mind  itself. 

In  comparing  objects  with  one  another,   and  classifying 
s.  E.— 6. 


66 


THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 


them  we  seek  to  develop  a  notion  more  comprehensive 
than  that  of  the  individual  objects  themselves.  When  we 
seek  to  understand  an  object  or  event,  we  develop  notions 
of  cause,  form,  or  purpose  from  the  understanding.  The 
mind  adds  something  from  its  own  awakened  power  to  the 
products  of  sensation. 

9.  We  have  seen  before  that  education  is  an  evolution ; 
we  are  now  prepared  to  see  somewhat  more  distinctly  the 
character  of  this  evolution.  While  the  process  is  not,  on 
the  one  hand,  like  building  with  timbers  or  blocks  of 
stone  prepared  to  hand,  neither  is  it,  on  the  other  hand, 
an  unveiling  of  truths  that  lie  hidden  in  the  mind.  We 
do  not  lay  a  foundation  of  truth  in  the  understanding  that 
rises  into  a  clear  atmosphere  on  which  we  may  stand  and 
gaze  at  higher  truth  with  unobstructed  vision,  and  thus 
build  and  climb;  nor  is  truth  brought  down  to  a  level 
with  the  understanding  by  unfolding  it  to  its  simplest 
elements.  The  native  energy  of  the  mind  is  aroused  to 
action,  and  there  begins  a  struggle  to  rise  to  the  under- 
standing of  the  new  and  the  unknown  by  assimilating  or 
identifying  it  with  the  old  and  the  known.  There  must 
be  this  struggle  of  the  power  within,  or  there  will  be  no 
development.  We  climb  the  ladder  on  which  we  rise  by 
reaching  to  the  rounds  above  us. 


PART  II 


SPECIAL    LAWS   OF    MENTAL    DEVELOPMENT. 


(67) 


CHAPTER  I. 

LAWS    OF    PHYSIOLOGICAL  RELATIONS. 

E  see  from  the  General  Law  of  mental 
growth  that  mental  activity  is  two-fold. 
First,  new  forms  of  activity  are  excited 
through  the  senses;  secondly,  these  are 
unified  by  the  mind  in  consequence  of  its 
own  constitutional  tendency  to  unification.  Physiologists 
find  a  corresponding  two-fold  growth  in  the  nervous  sys- 
tem. This  system,  in  outline,  consists  of  nerve  cells  and 
nerve  filaments.  A  nerve  filament  may  connect  an  organ 
of  sensation  to  a  nerve  cell,  one  nerve  cell  to  another,  or 
a  nerve  cell  to  a  muscular  fiber.  By  comparing  nerve 
systems  in  different  stages  of  development,  it  has  been 
found  that  as  mental  growth  progresses,  the  cells  increase 
in  number  and  develop  in  strength  of  walls ;  and  the  fila- 
ments are  multiplied,  connecting  a  larger  number  of  cells 
into  close  relationship,  and  affording  shorter  lines  of  com- 
munication between  different  parts  of  the  organism.  The 
most  important  collection  of  nerve  cells  is  the  brain,  and 
the  most  important  of  the  filaments  are  those  that  cover 
the  organs  of  sensation  and  lead  to  the  brain. 

2.  The  correspondence  between  the  development  of 
the  mind  and  the  nervous  system  leads  us  to  infer  some 
relation  of  dependence  between  them,  but  it  does  not 
destroy  their  separate  unity.  The  Science  of  Physiology 
and  the  Science  of  Mind  remain  distinct  from  each  other 
because  the  chain  of  cause  and  effect  in  either,  however 
similar   to    that   in    the    other,    is  distinct  from  it.     The 

(69) 


7©  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

activity  of  one  may  be  a  condition  of  the  activity  of  the 
other,  but  even  if  we  could  have  a  conception  of  the  two, 
such  that  we  might  think  a  transference  of  energy  possible, 
there  would  still  remain  a  separate  system  of  laws  for 
each. 

3.  The  arrangement  of  cells  and  filaments  in  the 
nervous  system  allows  of  three  distinct  courses  of  nervous 
activity.  First,  nervous  energy  may  pass  by  the  shortest 
way  from  a  nerve  of  sensation  or  from  a  nerve  cell  to  the 
muscles;  secondly,  it  may  pass  from  the  organs  of  sensa- 
tion to  the  nerve  cells,  and  there  stop ;  or,  thirdly,  it  may 
have  its  beginning  and  end  in  the  nerve  cells. 

4.  There  is  a  form  of  nerve  activity  that  produces  mus- 
cular action  without  consciousness.  This  is  seen  in  the 
action  of  the  heart  and  lungs  and  other  movements  of  the 
body  that  we  can  not  trace  by  direct  consciousness.  The 
energy  producing  these  movements  passes  directly  from 
the  exciting  cause  to  the  muscles  without  arousing  the 
general  activity  of  the  nervous  system  so  as  to  produce 
consciousness.  If  consciousness  is  produced,  it  is  not  the 
cause  of  the  muscular  activity,  for,  as  in  the  case  of  an 
injury  to  the  eye,  it  is  found  that  the  muscular  activity, 
like  the  closing  of  the  lid,  precedes  the  consciousness. 
Physiologists  call  this  reflex  action.  Such  activities  as 
walking,  habitual  and  skillful  exercise,  and  all  those 
actions  to  which  we  have  become  so  accustomed  that  we 
perform  them  almost  without  consciousness,  seem  to  be 
similar  in  nature,  although  they  originate  in  an  exercise 
of  the  will.  If  we  were  to  suppose  that  the  degree  of 
consciousness  depends  upon  the  extent  to  which  the 
activity  of  the  nervous  system  is  involved,  and  that 
habitual  action  produces  shorter  and  shorter  lines  of 
nervous  communication,  the  low  degree  of  consciousness 
would  be  explained. 


PHYSIOLOGICAL    RELATIONS.  7 1 

5.  Nervous  energy  tends  to  disseminate  itself  through- 
out the  system,  and  without  arousing  conscious  discrimi- 
nations produces  a  general  feeling  of  happiness  or 
unrest. 

6.  In  reflex  action  all  consciousness  is  wanting;  in 
the  general  diffusion  of  nervous  energy,  discrimination  is 
wanting.  But  there  are  localized  centers  of  nervous  ac- 
tivity where  the  ends  of  nerve  filaments  are  multiplied 
and  spread  over  a  limited  surface,  through  which  the 
mind  is  excited  to  discriminating  conscious  activity. 
These  centers  are  the  organs  of  sense.  We  classify  them 
physiologically,  and  arrange  them  in  the  order  of  their 
importance  as  sources  of  knowledge.  This  order  is  also 
the  order  of  their  location,  and  may  be  the  order  of  their 
development  in  the  animal  kingdom.  We  begin  with  the 
lowest,  and  name  them  touchy  taste ^  smell,  hearing,  sight. 
The  sense  of  touch  is  spread  more  or  less  over  the  entire 
surface  of  the  body,  but  as  a  discriminating  sense  it  is 
mainly  located  at  the  ends  of  the  fingers. 

7.  There  are  some  well-established  Laws  setting  forth 
the  relations  between  the  physiological  organism  and 
mental  development  which  deserve  careful  attention. 

Law  I. — All  Distinct  Forms  of  Conscious  Activity 
ARE  TO  BE  Traced  to  the  Senses  for  their  First  Im- 
pulse. 

First  Proof. — The  first  distinct  manifestation  of  con- 
sciousness in  a  child  is  given  in  response  to  the  influence 
of  some  object,  as  a  lighted  candle,  upon  the  senses. 

Second  Proof. — In  the  process  of  abstract  thinking,  we 
are  obliged  continually  to  bring  concrete  illustrations 
taken  from  the  perceptions  of  our  senses  to  the  aid  of 
reason,  and  we  have  no  conceptions  that  can  not  be 
traced  in  more  or  less  perfect  forms  to  experience. 


72  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

Third  Proof. — The  terms  we  use  in  speaking  even  of 
the  most  abstract  conceptions,  in  their  primary  use,  repre- 
sent impressions  of  the  senses. 

Fourth  Proof. — We  may  see  how  abstract  ideas  have 
grown  from  the  very  process  which  we  call  abstraction. 
We  first  consider  the  concrete,  which  is  complex  in 
thought,  and  then  withdraw  the  attention  from  one  part  or 
quality  and  another  until  there  is  left  only  the  conception 
which  we  wish  to  consider.  The  abstract  conception  is 
the  final  result  of  the  process, — not  a  conception  previ- 
ously formed,  which  we  determine  to  hold  apart  from 
every  thing  else. 

Fifth  Proof. — To  develop  abstract  notions  in  children, 
we  must  begin  with  the  concrete.  A  child  can  not  attain 
to  the  abstract  conception  of  number  till  it  has  first 
learned  to  count  things. 

Observations. 

The  inferences  from  this  law  are  manifold: 
(I.)  Each  of  the  senses  should  be  developed  to  make 
discriminations  as  exact  as  possible.  The  extent  and  ac- 
curacy of  practical  knowledge,  and  the  reliability  of 
memory,  imagination,  and  reasoning,  depend  upon  the 
extent  and  exactness  with  which  we  are  accustomed  to 
use  the  senses.  Merchants  must  be  able  to  judge  by  the 
sense  of  feeling  of  the  grades  of  flour,  cloth,  leather,  and 
other  goods  in  which  they  deal.  The  senses  of  taste  and 
smell  are  generally  so  dull  that  the  ordinary  grocer  must 
depend  upon  a  specialist  to  determine  the  quality  of  tea 
and  other  articles  that  please  the  taste  or  smell,  but  the 
fact  that  specialists  exist  is  evidence  of  the  cultivation  that 
is  possible.  The  ear  and  eye  are  continually  exercised, 
and  experience  corrects  many  of  their  errors,  but  grave 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  SENSES.  73 

results  often  follow  from  a  want  of  habitual  exactness  in 
their  use.  The  unnecessary  exposure  in  battle  that  cost 
the  great  Gustavus  Adolphus  his  life,  is  believed  to  have 
been  the  consequence  of  his  misjudging  the  distance  of 
the  enemy,  whom  he  saw  but  dimly  with  an  imperfect  eye 
through  the  dust  and  smoke.  If  Grouchy  had  been 
favored  with  the  same  quick  ear  as  Napoleon  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  he  might  have  been 
assured  of  the  fateful  struggle  going  on  within  his  hearing 
in  time  to  render  his  chief  some  assistance,  and  possibly 
change  the  current  of  destiny  for  empires. 

(II.)  Facts,  concrete  illustrations,  examples,  and  modes 
of  doing  things  appeal  to  the  senses;  principles,  abstract 
conceptions,  precepts,  and  the  reasons  why  follow  as 
more  purely  intellectual  activities.  The  activity  of  the 
mind  in  gaining  the  former  class  of  ideas  is  discriminating ; 
the  activity  of  the  latter  class  is  one  of  unification.  In 
every  line  of  thought,  the  mind  should  be  so  furnished 
with  the  ideas  that  come  immediately  from  the  senses  that 
memory  and  imagination  may  use  these  stores  of  knowl- 
edge easily  before  we  attempt  to  develop  ideas  that  can 
be  obtained  only  by  being  drawn  from  them.  In  most 
instances,  the  common  experiences  of  life  have  furnished 
the  mind  with  a  basis  for  the  higher  development,  but  we 
should  make  sure  of  it  that  such  is  the  case,  for  if  this 
first  step  of  mental  growth  has  not  been  reached,  any 
effort  at  advanced  development  will  be  absolutely  unavail- 
ing.    The  mind  must  possess: 

(i.)  Facts  before  principles  and  abstractions, 

(2.)  Examples  before  precepts. 

(3.)  Methods  before  reasons. 

But  the  mind  may  possess  the  knowledge  of  facts,  and 
so  forth,  and  still  not  develop  the  higher  truths  from  them. 
To  assure  this  action,  illustrations  should  be  given  and 

S.  E.— 7. 


74  'I'HE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

required  after  the  statement  of  principles.  If  common 
experience  can  be  relied  upon  to  supply  the  facts  for  reason- 
ing, then  only  the  illustrations  that  follow  the  statement 
and  show  the  development  of  the  higher  truth  are  re- 
quired. 

In  teaching  a  child  to  write  numbers  for  addition,  he 
should  be  taught  how  to  write  them  before  the  reason  is 
given.  Much  practice  will  be  required  before  he  will  be 
able  to  gain  a  clear  conception  of  the  reason.  In  defin- 
ing or  explaining  a  new  term,  the  thing  represented 
should  be  brought  before  the  mind  through  the  senses  if 
possible;  and  if  this  be  not  possible,  then  it  should  be 
made  as  clear  as  may  be  by  comparison  before  an  exact 
definition  is  attempted.  The  definition  should  be  given 
as  soon  as  exact  and  definite  ideas  will  accompany  it,  and 
its  elaboration  may  follow.  In  illustrating  and  defining 
grammatical  terms,  application  should  first  be  made  to 
those  uses  that  refer  to  the  action  of  the  senses.  In  ex- 
plaining words  in  common  use,  a  definition  may  first  be 
given  and  then  illustrations. 

(III.)  The  senses  should  be  developed  in  connection 
with  language.  If  language  goes  back  to  the  senses  for 
its  original  force,  it  follows  that  a  word  can  have  no 
meaning  to  one  who  has  never  associated  it  with  the 
product  of  sense  activity.  It  could  probably  be  said 
truthfully  that  the  most  universal  and  serious  mistake 
made  by  all  classes  of  instructors,  whether  teachers, 
preachers,  orators,  or  writers,  is  that  they  choose  lan- 
guage not  adapted  to  those  they  try  to  instruct.  This 
mistake  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  language  used  is  such 
as  the  speaker  has  found  to  be  expressive  of  his  thoughts 
after  long  study  of  the  subject,  while  those  who  hear  have 
not  been  trained  to  the  familiar  application  of  the  words 
to   the   same   ideas.      The    teacher    should   develop   the 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  SENSES.  75 

senses  In  connection  with  language  in  such  a  manner  and 
to  such  an  extent  that  pupils  may  readily  see  the  exact 
thought  expressed  by  the  language  they  are  likely  to  hear 
and  read.  The  popular  classics  of  any  language,  like 
Pilgrim's  Progress,  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield,  and  Gray's 
Elegy,  not  only  express  thoughts  that  are  easily  appreci- 
ated, but  they  express  them  in  words  that  appeal  to  all. 
(IV.)  Habits  of  exact  observation  should  be  cultivated 
early  in  life,  and  maintained  persistently.  Gazing  around 
at  every  thing  and  listening  to  every  sound  are  not  meant 
by  this,  but  a  careful  attention  to  details,  plans,  and  pur- 
poses. Curiosity,  or  the  desire  to  see  the  new,  the 
strange,  the  different,  leads  to  the  first  step  of  discrimi- 
nation. The  mind  should  be  directed  to  ask  further  the 
use  of  what  it  perceives,  and  to  learn  its  relative  value 
by  the  exercise  of  a  higher  unifying  power.  It  should 
be  taught  to  ask  what  can  be  done  with  that  of  which  it 
has  gained  a  discriminating  knowledge,  and  thus  be  led  to 
look  for  things  which  stand  in  important  relations  to  other 
things.  All  the  lights  of  a  city  may  be  equally  attractive 
to  the  passengers  in  a  railway  car  as  it  passes  along  the 
streets,  but  the  engineer  values  only  those  he  has  worked 
into  a  system  of  significant  signs.  The  power  of  obser- 
vation is  developed  when  one  has  learned  what  to 
observe. 

Law  IL — Mental  Activity  becomes  more  Difficult 
AS  IT  Departs  from  the  Activity  of  the  Senses. 

First  Proof. — We  are  conscious  of  less  effort  in  dis- 
criminating by  the  eye  and  ear  than  in  the  exercise  of 
memory,  less  effort  in  representing  by  imagination  what 
we  have  seen  than  what  we  have  been  told  about,  less 
effort  in  recalling  what  we  have  learned  than  in  reason- 


76  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

ing  upon  it,  and  less  effort  in  reasoning  upon  concrete 
facts  than  upon  abstract  truths. 

Second  Proof. — The  senses  will  give  accurate  informa- 
tion when  there  is  too  little  mental  energy  to  think  con- 
secutively, as  when  one  is  falling  asleep  or  is  exhausted 
by  mental  exertion.  In  dreams  the  imagination  mainly 
is  exercised;  the  reasoning  power  is  scarcely  called  into 
activity,  even  in  a  half  conscious  condition  of  the  mind. 

Law  III. — The  Further  Mental  Activity  Departs 
FROM  THE  Activity  of  the  Senses  the  Higher  and 
More  Comprehensive  is  the  Unification. 

First  Proof. — When  we  see  numerous  objects,  as  the 
stars  in  the  sky,  we  at  first  see  them  only  as  contained  in 
a  certain  space,  one  having  one  appearance,  and  another 
another.  If  we  try  to  fix  them  in  memory  we  must 
compare  them  together,  and  mark  their  relative  positions 
and  their  likenesses  and  differences.  If  we  reason  upon 
them,  we  unify  our  conception  of  them  under  all  the  laws 
of  causation  which  we  can  apply  to  them.  The  percep- 
tion involves  little  more  than  the  most  primitive  notions 
of  space  and  color.  The  memory  involves  a  more  exact 
comparison  of  the  objects  perceived.  The  reason  unifies 
them  under  principles  that  are  universal,  and  associates 
them  with  all  other  possible  objects  of  perception. 

Second  Proof — If  we  attempt  to  set  forth  the  knowledge 
necessarily  involved  in  different  mental  acts,  we  find  more 
involved  the  further  we  get  from  the  senses.  We  might 
comprehensively  describe  what  we  see  in  the  heavens  on 
a  clear  night  by  saying  we  see  a  host  of  stars,  from  three 
to  five  thousand,  scattered  over  the  sky.  If  particular 
stars  are  to  be  described  so  as  to  call  them  up  in  memory, 
their  size  and  distance  from  each  other  must  be  measured 


HIGHER    AND    LOWER    ACTIVITIES.  77 

by  the  eye,  their  brilliancy  must  be  determined  with  com- 
parative accuracy,  their  color  must  be  distinguished,  and 
comparisons  of  every  possible  kind  must  be  made  to 
satisfy  the  memory  of  their  identity.  If  we  attempt  to 
tell  what  we  have  learned  about  the  stars  to  satisfy  the 
demands  of  reason,   our  story  would  fill  a  volume. 

Third  Proof. — The  terms  we  use  in  speaking  of  the  ab- 
stract are  more  indefinite  because  they  comprehend  a 
greater  variety  of  possible  conceptions  than  terms  repre- 
senting the  concrete  objects  of  perception. 

Observations  on  the  Two  Preceding  Laws. 

(I.)  From  Laws  II  and  III  we  see  that  the  force  of 
truth  presented  in  terms  too  far  removed  from  the  senses 
is  lost  on  the  untrained  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of 
comprehending  it,  while  truth  presented  to  a  trained  mind 
must  condense  or  unify  a  greater  variety  of  experiences 
to  maintain  interest  and  keep  the  attention.  Of  the  two 
dangers,  the  danger  of  too  great  abstraction  is  the  greater, 
because  the  single  example  will  suggest  a  whole  class  of 
objects  with  their  differences  to  the  trained  mind,  and  it 
is  significant  to  the  untrained.  It  is  simple  enough  for 
the  untrained  to  understand;  it  is  suggestive  enough  to 
hold  the  attention  of  the  trained  thinker.  Under  the 
conditions  of  these  laws  the  teacher  must  acquire  skill 
both  in  adapting  himself  to  the  capacities  of  the  dullest 
and  least  advanced  pupils,  and  in  making  sufficient  prog- 
ress for  the  quickest  and  most  advanced. 

(II.)  From  these  Laws  we  can  see  how  an  audience 
becomes  wearied  while  listening  to  abstract  rc;asoning, 
and  is  required  to  put  forth  voluntary  energy  to  follow 
the  thought,  although  the  mind  is  not  exhausted,  and 
will  brighten  up  and  think  without  effort  at  the  introduc- 


78  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

tion  of  an  illustration,  even  though  it  does  not  mean 
much.  The  same  is  true  of  a  class.  It  should  be  the 
aim  of  a  teacher  both  to  maintain  activity  and  make 
progress. 

(III.)  We  see  from  these  Laws  that  the  difference  in 
capacity  between  individuals  is  not  so  much  in  their 
ability  to  understand  any  one  thing  as  to  grasp  and  unify 
properly  a  large  number  of  things.  Every  truth  may  be 
so  simplified  that  the  dullest  may  see  it,  but  it  requires  a 
longer  time  for  some  to  learn  to  pass  from  the  simple  ele- 
ments to  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  whole  than  others. 
This  may  be  seen  in  taking  up  a  new  subject  with  a 
class.  The  class  must  all  begin  with  the  elements  of  a 
subject,  and  it  will  be  difficult  for  a  few  days  to  tell 
which  members  are  likely  to  succeed  best.  All  will  learn 
a  few  lessons,  if  diligent,  about  equally  well.  But  in  a 
week's  time  a  unification  of  the  truths  learned  will  be  re- 
quired for  progress,  and  then  the  pupils  begin  to  show 
their  difference  of  natural  endowment.  Slower  progress 
and  more  frequent  reviews  are  necessary  for  the  duller 
ones.  It  may  be  a  useful  hint  to  some  to  suggest  that 
classes  be  so  arranged  that  they  may  often  be  separated, 
the  poorer  members  being  required  to  review  the  work 
a  second  or  third  time,  while  the  better  ones  advance. 
Where  several  grades  are  in  the  same  room  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult so  to  break  up  the  classes  that  reviews  may  be  required 
of  any  one  pupil  in  such  studies  only  as  he  is  poorest  in. 

(IV.)  A  person  of  ordinary  capacity  may  become  by 
habit  extremely  skillful  in  some  one  line  of  mental  opera- 
tions. Men  of  great  celebrity  because  of  high  attainments 
in  some  particular  sphere  have  often  proved  very  ordinary 
when  placed  in  other  relations  in  life.  We  need  not  be 
discouraged  because  we  find  so  many  departments  of 
knowledge  in  which  one  and  another  greatly  surpass  us. 


iflFFERENCES    OF    CAPACITY.  79 

It  is  said  that  twenty  years  after  he  had  gained  a  world- 
wide fame  for  his  explorations  in  Archaeology,  the  great 
investigator  of  Greek  antiquities  of  our  day  did  not 
remember  to  have  even  heard  the  name  of  one  of  his  most 
famous  countrymen  and  contemporaries,  who  was  engaged 
in  a  different  line  of  studies.  Caesar  should  not  have  wept 
at  forty-five  because  Alexander  had  conquered  the  world 
and  died  at  thirty-three.  Skill  in  special  lines  generally  de- 
pends more  on  training  and  habit  than  a  difference  in  na- 
tive endowments.  While  all  the  powers  of  the  mind 
should  be  trained,  few  can  become  skillful  m  many  things. 
Every  one  should  become  skillful  in  something.  This  is 
what  is  meant  by  learning  a  trade  or  a  profession.  Ability 
to  combine  and  achieve  results  quickly  and  easily  belongs 
even  to  the  practice  of  the  mechanical  arts.  It  is  as 
though  the  nervous  and  mental  energy  were  trained  to  take 
the  shortest  hnes  of  communication  between  the  beginning 
of  thought  and  the  end  of  action,  and  to  save  time  and 
force. 

(V.)  Characteristic  differences  are  shown  early  in  child- 
hood by  this  power  of  combination.  Some  children  will 
associate  things  together  easily  in  memory.  The  gift  of 
language  depends  upon  the  power  to  unify  a  thought  both 
in  idea  and  in  form  of  expression.  Few  are  ever  able  to 
hold  in  one  distinct  conscious  unity  all  the  variety  of  sug- 
gestion expressed  in  one  of  the  periods  of  Daniel  Webster 
or  Demosthenes;  still  fewer  have  the  power  to  originate 
their  like.  Taking  such  a  period  as  a  whole  we  only  as- 
sociate the  leading  heads  of  thought.  Some  children  put 
things  together  in  the  form  of  pictures  of  the  imagination, 
some  combine  musical  sounds  in  a  wonderful  manner,  some 
develop  early  the  higher  powers  of  reason.  Mozart  would 
strike  chords  on  a  musical  instrument  with  deUght  before  he 
was  three  years  old,  would  compose  melodies  with  perfect 


8o  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

harmonies  before  he  was  five,  and  at  six,  without  practice  or 
training,  he  played  the  organ  in  a  convent  with  such  won- 
derful skill  as  to  draw  the  monks  from  their  dining  to  listen. 
While  yet  a  boy,  by  himself  and  without  instruction, 
Pascal  drew  geometrical  figures,  and  demonstrated  the 
principles  of  Geometry  up  to  the  thirty-second  proposition 
of  Euclid.  Oddities  of  combination  should  generally  be 
avoided.  The  power  to  see  unnatural  resemblances  diverts 
from  the  truth.  A  habit  of  punning  and  the  exercise  of 
what  is  called  a  sense  of  the  ridiculous  may  be  indulged 
for  recreation,  and  they  are  certainly  effective  in  this  re- 
gard, but  they  may  put  obstructions  in  the  way  of  correct 
and  useful  combinations. 

(VI.)  For  the  attainment  of  success  in  carrying  on  the 
world's  affairs,  unification  should  pass  as  rapidly  as  possi- 
ble from  perception  to  complete  and  final  combination. 
The  mind  of  the  successful  business  man  does  not  go  con- 
sciously through  all  the  steps  that  lead  to  the  acquisition 
of  wealth,  nor  can  he  generally  name  them.  By  a  process 
not  distinctly  perceived,  he  sees  money  in  every  thing 
around  him,  and  the  way  in  which  his  touch  turns  every 
thing  to  gold  is  as  much  of  a  mystery  as  was  the  power  of 
Midas.  But  accurate  combinations  of  elements  must  be 
made  in  the  mind  on  a  money  basis  of  unification  unless 
success  is  purely  accidental.  A  skillful  fruit-buyer  will  go 
into  an  orchard  and  give  a  very  close  estimate  of  the 
value  of  a  crop  of  apples  at  a  glance.  If  he  is  pressed 
for  the  basis  of  his  judgment,  he  will  point  to  the  number 
of  barren  trees  and  to  those  comparatively  bare,  and  then 
he  will  draw  down  a  limb  and  point  to  the  shriveled,  de- 
fective, and  knotty  apples,  and  you  will  see  that  your 
casual  glance  meant  one  thing  and  his  quite  another. 
Without  being  conscious  of  the  distinct  processes,  he  had 
been  assorting  out  first,  the  valueless  trees,  and  then  the 


SKILL    IN    PERCEPTION,  8 1 

worthless  fruit,  and  combining  only  the  good  fruit  into 
one  sum  for  an  estimate  of  value.  The  successful  general 
must  be  able  to  direct  his  forces  in  the  field.  However 
skillfully  a  campaign  may  be  planned,  accidents  will 
occur  to  give  the  advantage  to  a  vigilant  enemy,  and 
involve  defeat  in  almost  any  engagement  unless  there  is 
skill  to  meet  emergencies.  The  genius  of  Napoleon  and 
of  General  Grant  was  not  greater  than  that  of  other  men 
in  planning  campaigns,  but  they  were  superior  to  others 
in  this,  that  they  may  almost  be  said  never  to  have  made 
a  mistake  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy.  When  Csesar  re- 
ported his  campaign  in  Asia  in  the  words  ''  I  came,  I  saw, 
I  conquered,"  he  told  the  whole  story  of  the  conquest  as 
the  important  heads  of  his  movements  stood  out  clearly 
in  his  consciousness.  From  sight  of  the  situation  to 
victory  was  but  a  single  step,  as  it  were,  to  him. 

(VII.)  To  pass  from  the  perception  of  the  senses  to 
final  conclusions  requires  definite  steps  of  the  understand- 
ing, and  it  is  to  secure  these  in  logical  order  that  drill  is 
necessary.  This  gives  skill  and  celerity.  But  it  will  be 
seen  from  the  last  consideration  that  intermediate  steps 
should  be  abbreviated  as  much  and  as  fast  as  possible, 
and  the  end  connected  as  closely  as  possible  with  the  be- 
ginning. Drill  is  the  warp  and  woof  of  training,  but 
skill  and  not  mere  repetition  is  essential  to  a  skillfully 
trained  intellect. 

Law  IV. — The  Vigor  of  Mental  Activity  is  Sus- 
tained IN  Proportion  to  the  Diversity  of  Forms 
Assumed. 

First  Proof. — When  the  mind  has  become  exhausted  in 
the  study  of  one  subject,  it  may  take  up  a  new  one  with 
fresh  interest.     When  we  become  wearied  with  attempts 


82  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

to  understand  a  problem  from  one  point  of  view,  we  will 
start  on  another  line  of  examination  with  fresh  vigor. 

Second  Proof. — The  greater  the  change  in  the  line  of 
thought  the  greater  the  relief.  When  we  become  wearied 
with  the  higher  intellectual  activities,  we  are  rested  by- 
recreations  that  employ  the  emotions,  and  we  return  in- 
vigorated to  our  intellectual  task. 

Third  Proof. — Up  to  the  point  where  vital  force  grows 
sensibly  weaker,  change  of  activity  is  better  than  entire 
rest.  This  may  be  pardy  explained  on  the  ground  that  the 
blood  is  thus  kept  in  more  perfect  circulation,  and  the 
nerves  find  a  supply  of  needed  nourishment  ready  for 
their  use.  On  waking  from  sleep,  it  requires  time  to 
arouse  mental  activity.  The  mind  may  be  clear  and 
susceptible,  but  it  does  not  work  out  plans  requiring  a 
great  variety  of  resources  until  continued  activity  has 
given  it  a  kind  of  impetus.  Great  plans,  whether  of 
battles,  of  literary  work,  or  of  business  enterprise,  are 
often  the  ripened  products  of  study  prolonged  into  the 
night.  The  battle  of  Austerlitz  was  thus  planned,  and  so 
clearly  did  Napoleon  see  the  details  of  the  day  on  the 
night  preceding  the  engagement,  that  he  felt  sure  of  the 
result,  and  composed  himself  in  almost  perfect  sleep. 
Thus  Webster  marshalled  his  stray  thoughts  into  line  the 
night  before  his  great  contest  with  Hayne.  If  the  vital 
action  be  low,  but  the  vital  energy  not  exhausted,  brisk 
physical  exercise  often  restores  vigor  to  the  standard  re- 
quired for  the  best  thinking  most  speedily. 

Observations. 

(I.)  All  the  senses  should  be  so  developed  that  the 
greatest  variety  of  perceptions  may  be  brought  into  con- 
sciousness. This  is  required  to  secure  variety  of  mental 
activity. 


MENTAL    AND    VITAL    FORCE.  83 

(II.)  The  faculties  of  the  mind  should  all  be  cultivated 
in  due  proportion,  that  the  greatest  variety  of  thought 
may  be  easily  reached. 

(III.)  Variety  of  reading  and  observation  should  be 
persistently  maintained,  that  mental  activity  may  be  the 
more  fruitful. 

Law  V. — Mental  Activity  is  Exhausting  in  Pro- 
portion AS  it  involves  New  Forms;  i.  e.,  New  Con- 
ceptions, New  Reasoning,  and  so  Forth. 

First  Proof. — In  traveling,  if  we  try  to  observe  all  the 
objects  we  pass,  we  become  more  wearied  than  if  we 
give  our  attention  to  a  few  objects.  As  variety  maintains 
activity  most  easily,  and  the  new  intensifies  the  activity 
on  account  of  its  being  new,  the  exhaustion  is  the  more' 
complete. 

Second  Proof. — In  reading  a  book  or  listening  to  a 
speaker,  if  we  are  taken  rapidly  over  new  lines  of 
thought  we  soon  become  too  wearied  to  follow  the  argu- 
ment closely,  while  we  can  follow  lines  of  thought  familiar 
to  us  without  exhaustion  a  much  longer  time. 

Law  VI. — Mental  Activity  and  Vital  Activity 
Exhaust  Each  Other. 

First  Proof. — When  the  physical  powers  are  exhausted 
by  labor  the  mind  does  not  act  easily. 

Second  Proof. — After  a  day  of  hard  study  the  body 
does  not  recuperate  easily. 

Third  Proof. — In  cases  of  sickness,  the  mind  must  rest 
or  the  body  will  not  quickly  recover  its  vigor.  Anxiety 
and  brooding  over  difficulties  stand  in  the  way  of  recovery 
from  disease. 


84  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

Fourth  Proof, — The  troubles  of  life  seem  harder  to 
bear,  and  tasks  harder  to  achieve,  if  the  physical  powers 
are  exhausted. 

Observations  on  Laws  V  and  VI. 

(I.)  The  relation  between  vital  and  mental  energy  is 
not  conceived  as  the  relation  between  an  efficient  cause 
and  an  effect,  but  as  a  condition  and  consequent.  The 
relation  can  not  be  stated  more  definitely  than  this  with 
any  assurance.  We  might  conceive  of  the  mind  as  an 
active  energy,  and  the  physical  organs  as  instruments,  in 
which  case  the  efficiency  of  the  mind  would  depend  upon 
the  condition  of  the  instrument  used;  but  such  a  relation 
should  not  be  positively  affirmed. 

*  (II.)  The  motto  for  the  developed  thinker,  *'Not 
many  things,  but  much,"  should  be  modified  or  reversed 
for  childhood.  Then  vitality  is  greatest,  and  this  is  espe- 
cially the  time  for  new  formations  of  thought.  A  child 
can  not  carry  one  line  of  thought  far,  but  when  he  is  tired 
of  one  thing  he  has  vitality  still  left  for  something  else. 

(III.)  Vitality  is  stronger  than  the  power  of  consecu- 
tive thought  in  most  persons  engaged  in  the  manual  occu- 
pations of  life ;  hence  several  arguments,  though  not  so 
demonstrative,  will  generally  have  more  weight  with  them 
than  a  single  proof  more  elaborately  developed  and  ap- 
plied. 

(IV.)  If  we  would  develop  the  largest  intellectual 
power,  we  must  give  the  mind  time  to  grow  when  the 
body  is  comparatively  rested. 

(V.)  If  children  do  hard  mental  work  in  school,  their 
vitality  out  of  school  will  be  less.  When  they  show  an 
exuberance  of  vitality  on  going  out  of  the  school-room, 
it   may    be    inferred    there    has    been    little    real    work 


MENTAL    AND    VITAL    FORCE. 


85 


inside.  It  is  noticed  that  when  children  are  sent  home 
from  a  properly  conducted  Kindergarten  there  is  no  dis- 
position to  show  that  overflow  of  spirits  which  a  healthy 
child  is  so  apt  to  display  on  leaving  what  is  to  him  the 
confinement  of  an  ordinary  school-room. 

(VI.)  In  case  hard  intellectual  work  is  to  be  required, 
only  so  much  vitality  should  be  given  to  physical  exercise 
as  is  needed  to  secure  healthy  action  of  the  vital  organs. 
In  case  of  feebleness  of  the  body,  the  mind  should  rest 
and  give  all  the  vitality  to  the  body.  Derangement  of 
some  vital  organ  is  to  be  distinguished  from  feebleness. 
Sometimes  mental  exercise,  especially  of  an  emotional 
character,  is  the  best  stimulus  that  can  be  given  to  dis- 
ordered physical  energy. 

(VII.)  Problems  which  we  can  not  face  at  night  with 
exhausted  physical  powers  may  often  be  easily  met  and 
overcome  after  sleep  and  rest. 


CHAPTER  II. 


LAWS   OF    REFLECTIVE   CONSCIOUSNESS. 


we  compare  the  third  definition  of^ 
consciousness  with  the  General  Law  for 
mental  development,  we  shall  see  how  im- 
portant a  place  in  the  science  of  education 
is  occupied  by  consciousness.  It  will  be 
seen,  as  we  proceed,  that  it  is  important  at  every  step. 
It  is  not  only  important  in  organizing  new  notions  and 
new  thought,  but  it  is  equally  important  in  considering 
distinctness  of  thought.  A  large  part  of  the  attention  of 
the  teacher  must  be  given  to  developing  the  indistinct, 
and  this  is  only  done  by  developing  consciousness.  It  is 
for  this  reason  that  so  much  space  was  given  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  character  of  this  element  in  thought,  and 
that  an  effort  was  made  to  carry  the  analysis  of  mental 
operations  further  in  this  direction  than  is  usual  in  search 
of  a  definite  conception  of  it. 

We  may  now  consider  some  of  the  laws  under  which 
consciousness  is  developed. 

Law  I. — Consciousness  begins  with  the  Activity  of 
THE  Senses. 

7^fW/  Proof. — By  observation  it  is  found  that  the  first 
manifestation  of  reflective  consciousness  in  infancy  is  in 
connection  with  impressions  upon  the  senses. 

Second  Proof.  — The  earliest  notions  of  childhood  are  of 
objects  of  sense. 

(86) 


^ 


BEGINNING    OF    CONSCIOUSNESS.  87 

Third  Proof. — The  most  intellectual  conceptions  are 
developed  by  abstraction  from  the  conception  of  objects 
of  sense-perception. 

Fourth  Proof. — What  are  called  a  priori  conceptions  are 
developed  through  perception. 

Observations. 

(I.)  A  foundation  for  all  the  forms  of  mental  growth 
must  be  laid  in  sense-activity.  Consciousness  can  not 
build  unless  it  finds  material  in  the  products  of  sense- 
activity,  and  the  character  of  the  mind  will  depend  upon 
what  consciousness  finds  to  build  with.  The  fullness  of 
conscious  life  depends  upon  the  variety  and  character  of 
the  experience  of  the  senses,  as  well  as  upon  the  tendency 
of  consciousness  to  organize  from  these  the  higher  forms 
of  intellectual  being. 

(II.)  There  is  strong  evidence  to  favor  the  conclusion 
that  continued  sense-activity  is  essential  to  continued  con- 
sciousness. The  eyes  are  closed,  the  light  shut  out,  and 
quiet  sought  when  a  person  desires  to  sleep.  Anaesthetics 
quiet  the  nerves  of  sensation  so  that  light  will  not  arouse 
the  sight,  sound  the  ear,  nor  injury  the  touch,  so  long  as 
unconsciousness  lasts.  It  is  said  that  a 'German  boy  who 
had  lost  the  sense  of  touch,  and  the  use  of  one  eye  and 
one  ear  by  disease,  could  be  put  to  sleep  immediately  by 
closing  the  sensitive  eye  and  stopping  the  sensitive  ear. 
But  the  ability  to  form  conceptions  that  have  been  ac- 
quired through  the  eye  and  ear  continues  when  these 
senses  are  lost. 

(III.)  Every  experience  will  be  built  into  the  Hfe  and 
character  somehow.  Consciousness  will  make  some  use 
of  all  the  material  the  senses  furnish.  Unmixed  good 
and  unmixed  evil  are  very  uncommon,  so  that  there  are 


88  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

but  few  things  which  we  say  should  never  be  done,  and 
few  that  we  may  always  allow.  But  this  does  not  make  it 
a  matter  of  indifference  what  is  forbidden  and  what  is 
allowed.  On  the  contrary,  the  greatest  care  should  be 
taken  to  determine  what  is  beneficial  and  what  injurious, 
and  use  the  one  and  refuse  the  other.  Some  boys  asso- 
ciate the  conversation  and  the  manners  of  low  company 
with  a  character  which  they  despise,  and  they  avoid  them 
in  every  way  possible.  There  is  little  need  of  guarding 
them  against  these  vices.  The  imaginations  of  other  boys 
run  riot  in  scenes  of  vice,  and  when  once  the  mind  has 
been  tainted  through  such  experiences  it  is  almost  impos- 
sible to  build  up  noble  thoughts.  Every  thing  has  some- 
thing in  it  that  a  depraved  consciousness  may  turn  to  evil 
account. 

The  reading  of  bad  books,  together  with  observation 
of  the  conduct  of  vicious  and  criminal  associates  that 
have  an  attraction  for  boys  is,  perhaps,  the  cause  of  more 
wickedness  and  lower  vices  than  any  other  one  thing 
unless  we  must  except  intemperance. 

(IV.)  Not  only  can  control  be  exercised  in  regard  to 
what  experiences  shall  be  had,  but  the  use  of  them  may 
also  be  directed  through  the  attention.  The  character  of 
a  lie,  of  passion,  of  hatred,  of  selfishness  may  be  so 
pointed  out  as  to  cause  an  aversion  to  them,  and  great 
patience  should  be  exercised  in  the  endeavor  to  do  this. 
We  should  especially  point  out  the  wrong  motives  that 
actuate  the  selfish  and  the  unworthy  character  of  unjust, 
oppressive,  and  criminal  men  who  sometimes  appear  in 
the  light  of  attractive  heroes. 

(V.)  The  structure  of  character  is  largely  determined 
in  early  childhood.  Some  have  estimated  that  character 
is  more  than  half  determined  at  the  age  of  two  and  one 
half  years,  others  at  five  or  six.     These  estimates  are  not 


GROWTH    OF    CONSCIOUSNESS.  89 

based  upon  the  extent  of  the  growth,  but  upon  the  nature 
of  it,  and  its  power  in  determining  the  direction  of  future 
growths.  Consciousness  builds  the  new  always  into  the 
old,  and  the  new  experience  is  most  easily  identified  and 
unified  with  that  which  is  most  prominent  in  the  character 
estabHshed.  From  this  point  of  view,  the  estimates  given 
above  are  not  so  unreasonable. 

Law  II. — Consciousness  is  Developed  by  Degrees  : 
A.  From  the  Indefinite  to  the  Definite.  B.  From 
THE  Obscure  to  the  Clear.  C.  From  Doubt  to 
Certainty. 

Proof. — The  slow  development  of  consciousness  in 
animate  beings  in  general  has  been  alluded  to,  also  its 
growth  in  the  improvement  of  races  and  in  the  progress 
of  the  individual.  It  needs  only  to  be  added  to  these 
facts  that  development  of  consciousness  is  gradual  in 
each  separate  mental  activity. 

A.  Consciousness  Develops  from  the  Ltdefinite  to  the 
Definite. 

The  form,  the  parts,  and  the  qualities  of  objects  are  not 
determined  with  exactness  by  the  first  impulse  of  percep- 
tion. Consciousness  meets  with  these  differences  in  the 
senses,  and  gradually  recognizes  them.  This  law  points 
out  the  natural  order  for  description  and  definition.  The 
object  should  be  set  forth  by  something  from  which  it  can 
be  recognized  in  its  general  relations,  and  the  attention 
should  then  be  called  to  the  features  that  are  more  pe- 
culiar, and  finally  an  exact  description  given.  In  describ- 
ing a  piece  of  property,  a  deed  runs  somewhat  as  follows : 

* '  All  that  tract  of   land  situated  in  the  village  of , 

township  No.  — ,"  and  so  forth,  ''and  bounded  as 
follows."     Those   things  which  can  be  represented  most 

S.  E.-8. 


90  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

easily,  and  which  will  aid  most  in  forming  an  exact  con- 
ception to  which  other  parts  of  the  description  may  be 
added  so  as  to  form  a  consistent  whole  should  be  given 
first,  and  the  details  should  follow. 

B. — Consciousness  Develops  from  the  Obscure  to  the  Dis- 
tinct. 

(i.)  The  activity  of  the  senses  in  perception  is  more 
instantaneously  distinct  than  conceptions  brought  back  in 
memory  and  the  thoughts  conveyed  by  language.  The 
eye  will  reveal  in  a  moment  what  it  would  require  a  long 
time  to  tell,  though  our  language  were  as  rapid  as  it  is 
possible  for  one  to  follow  with  distinct  thought.  Yet 
even  the  activity  of  the  senses  begins  in  obscurity.  The 
first  conscious  impressions  require  days  or  even  weeks  to 
develop  into  distinctness.  Memory,  in  its  first  efforts  to 
recall  the  past,  only  brings  back  a  dim  remembrance 
which  must  be  developed  into  clearness.  Comparison 
brings  out  a  sense  of  likeness  and  difference  but  slowly, 
and" argument  requires  time  to  make  itself  distinctly 
felt. 

(2.)  When  a  truth  is  properly  presented,  time  should  be 
given  for  consciousness  to  make  it  clear.  The  mind  is 
distracted  by  multiplying  words.  In  an  argument,  a  few 
things  made  clear  will  have  more  weight  than  many  well- 
made  points  left  indistinctly  in  the  mind.  All  that  can  be 
done,  at  best,  is  to  direct  the  attention,  and  this  is  most 
satisfactorily  accomplished  by  the  mind  itself  in  the  effort 
of  consciousness  to  identify  and  unite,  if  the  elements 
have  been  adequately  set  forth.  If  an  experiment  is  to 
be  performed  let  the  steps  be  orderly  and  slow,  and  leave 
it  for  the  observer  to  read.  If  an  abstract  thought  is  to 
be  developed  from  an  illustration,  be  sure  to  give  ample 
time,    and  do  not   suppose   words   will   help   when   the 


GROWTH    OF    CONSCIOUSNESS.  91 

thought  itself  is  embodied  before  the  mind.  Oftentimes 
a  teacher  has  an  itching  desire  to  display  his  own  appreci- 
ation of  a  truth,  or  the  beauty  of  an  experiment,  and 
takes  the  thought  out  of  a  pupil's  mind  by  setting  forth 
his  own  notions,  and  almost  inevitably  misleads  by  some 
word  or  emphasis  that  is  not  so  suggestive  of  the  truth  as 
the  fact  itself.  It  is  like  the  commentary  on  Pilgrim's 
Progress  which  Dr.  Thomas  Scott  presented  to  a  friend 
whom  he  thought  too  iUiterate  to  understand  the  noble 
thoughts  of  Bunyan  without  explanation.  When  the 
author  asked  his  friend  how  he  enjoyed  the  book,  he  was 
told  it  was  all  very  clear  except  the  notes. 

(3.)  Some  conceptions  require  much  time  under  the 
most  favorable  circumstances  to  develop  into  distinctness. 
We  have  seen  how  slowly  the  idea  of  consciousness  itself 
has  made  its  way  in  the  thoughts  of  men.  The  term  a 
priori  suggests  a  conception  which  has  floated  in  obscurity 
down  the  ages,  and  does  not  now  find  an  explanation 
satisfactory  to  all,  because  it  is  so  indistinct  in  its  abstract- 
ness  that  all  can  not  see  it  alike.  But  there  are  some 
truths  which  the  development  of  the  race  has  made  it 
possible  so  to  present  as  to  arouse  with  certainty  a  clear 
consciousness  of  what  they  are  and  of  their  vaUdity. 
The  fundamentals  of  these  truths  are  mainly  embodied 
in  those  things  that  are  taught  in  schools.  It  is  the  chief 
business  of  the  school  to  develop  these  fundamental  truths 
that  have  been  worked  out  into  clear  consciousness  in  the 
race  in  such  a  way  that  the  young  may  go  out  into  the 
world  with  their  minds  furnished  with  these  clear  concep- 
tions abreast  of  the  age  in  which  they  live. 

(4.)  Clearness  of  conception  should  be  the  constant 
aim.  In  preparing  a  reading  lesson,  for  example,  the 
sentence  should  be  so  studied  that  a  glance  will  bring  its 
thought  into  consciousness  as  a  unit.     The  reader  should 


92  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

no  more  advance  in  the  sentence  word  by  word,  in  con- 
ceiving it,  than  he  does  letter  by  letter  in  conceiving  the 
word.  In  studying  Arithmetic,  the  pupil  gets  nothing  of 
practical  value  that  he  does  not  master  by  a  clear  concep- 
tion. Abstract  as  the  subject  is  in  its  essence,  there  is  not 
a  principle  nor  a  process  that  can  not  be  illustrated,  and 
this  makes  the  subject  well  adapted  to  children.  Not  less 
should  every  principle  of  Grammar  be  made  so  clear  that 
a  rule  or  statement  will  mean  something  real.  To  carry 
out  this  Law  in  practical  teaching,  a  teacher  must  learn  to 
wait.     By  experience  he  will  learn  where  to  wait. 

C. — Consciousness  Develops  from  Doubt  to  Certainty. 

( I.)  When  two  things  compared  together  are  brought 
into  consciousness  as  being  what  they  are  individually  by 
an  act  of  perception  or  of  memory,  it  requires  a  still 
further  act  identifying  them.  This  act  is  not  instanta- 
neous, but  it  progresses  from  doubt  to  certainty.  The 
unification  is  at  first  hypothetical,  then  probable,  then 
certain.  The  degree  of  conscious  assurance  is  shown  by 
the  manner  of  asserting  identity  between  subject  and 
predicate,  and  is  expressed  sometimes  by  the  mood  of  the 
verb,  and  sometimes  by  such  modal  adverbs  as  perhaps^ 
possibly,  probably,  certainly,  which  modify,  not  the  predi- 
cate, but  the  copula ;  and  such  expressions  as  /  suppose,  I 
think,  I  am  sure,  used  parenthetically.  Thus,  in  the  lines 
of  Milton, 

"  Perhaps  their  loves,  or  else  their  sheep 
Was  all  that  did  their  silly  thoughts  so  busy  keep," 

perhaps  implies  no  obscurity  of  the  conception,  but  the 
uncertainty  is  ifn  the  connection  expressed  by  was.  The 
writer  could  not  make  his  assertion  positively.     As  we 


LIMIT    OF    CONSCIOUSNESS.  93 

regard  the  two  members  of  a  comparison  attentively,  the 
mind  becomes  gradually  fixed  in  its  positive  assertion  of 
identity. 

(2.)  The  assertion  of  non-identity,  or  the  denial  of  a 
thing,  is  a  logical  deduction  from  a  failure  to  find  identity, 
or  it  is  based  on  such  a  law  as  the  law  of  contradiction, 
that  a  thing  can  not  both  be  and  not  be  at  the  same 
time.  This  assertion  of  non-identity,  then,  depends  in 
the  first  place  upon  the  power  of  the  mind  to  identify, 
and  is  gradual  in  its  development. 

i 
Law  III. — Definite,  Clear,  and  Positive  Conscious- 
ness IS  the  Limit  of  Mental  Development. 

J^t'rsl  Proof. — This  Law  may  be  drawn  from  the  General 
Law  of  development  and  the  preceding  Law.  If  devel- 
opment depends  on  identification,  and  identification 
progresses  toward  a  definite,  clear,  and  positive  con- 
sciousness, then  these  are  the  limit  of  development. 

Second  Proof. — When  the  mind  becomes  satisfied  that 
it  has  reached  the  boundaries  of  a  field  of  thought,  and 
all  its  features  are  clearly  brought  out,  and  consciousness 
has  classified  its  truths  with  certainty,  we  cease  to  specu- 
late in  regard  to  it,  and  look  for  other  fields  to  develop. 
One  who  catches  at  unimportant  and  fancied  resem- 
blances, and  wastes  his  time  in  testing  the  fictitious,  is 
like  a  man  who  threshes  over  the  same  old  straw  from 
which  the  wheat  has  already  been  separated,  or  like  the 
miner  who  hoards  fool's  gold. 

Observations. 

(I.)  On  the  truth  of  this  Law  depends  the  progress  of 
civilization.     The  rule  is  generally  laid  down  in  Methods 


94  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

of  Teaching  that  the  teacher  should  follow  the  order  of 
nature.  But  the  objection  arises  at  once  that  nature 
treats  all  alike,  and  if  each  generation  learns  as  the  gen- 
eration preceding  it  learned  there  could  be  no  progress. 
The  Law  here  laid  down  meets  the  objection.  The 
order  of  nature  does  not  require  the  child  to  wander  in 
all  the  by-ways  of  life,  and  stumble  against  all  the  ob- 
stacles that  lie  in  the  devious  paths  his  father  trod. 
When  the  direct  road  to  a  given  end  has  been  made 
plain  and  sure  by  the  experience  of  one  generation,  the 
next  may  follow  it  without  exploring  all  the  winding 
paths  which  led  pioneers  astray. 

(II.)  In  this  law  we  find  a  basis  for  the  trust  which  is 
naturally  placed  in  authority.  When  a  clear  and  definite 
statement  is  made,  if  we  put  confidence  in  the  intelli- 
gence and  honesty  of  its  author,  consciousness  asks  no 
more  for  the  sake  of  certainty,  and  the  mind  rests  in  this 
authority.  Mistakes  from  credulity  render  us  cautious, 
but  trust  in  authority  is  a  necessary  principle  of  mental 
activity. 

Law  IV. — Mental  Energy  is  Lost  in  Proportion 
AS  it  Falls  Short  of  Developing  into  Definite, 
Clear,  and  Positive  Consciousness. 

First  Proof. — In  seeking  to  gain  an  understanding  of 
any  truth,  our  knowledge  must  be  clear,  definite,  and 
positive,  to  be  of  use.  If  it  fails  in  these  respects  it  is 
not  relied  upon  nor  cherished  in  the  memory,  and  the 
energy  spent  in  gaining  a  dim  and  uncertain  understand- 
ing is  more  or  less  wasted. 

Second  Proof. — If  the  feelings  are  excited,  they  will  be 
developed  in  proportion  to  the  completeness  with  which 
the    activity    comes    into    consciousness.      Harmony   of 


LIMIT   OF    CONSCIOUSNESS.  95 

sound  and  color  must  strike  the  ear  and  eye  with  a  clear 
and  positive  sense  of  beauty  or  it  will  fail  to  develop  the 
taste.  Moral  truth  must  strike  the  conscience  as  clearly 
and  positively  moral  truth  or  it  will  be  no  guide  for  life. 
Third  Proof. — In  the  case  of  voHtions,  the  law  is  still 
more  plainly  applicable.  A  voUtion  is  completed  only 
when  a  conscious  effort  is  put  forth  to  attain  an  object 
desired.  Any  thing  short  of  this  effort  is  a  failure  of 
volition.  But  when  a  desire  becomes  definite,  clear,  and 
positive,  it  results  in  an  effort  of  the  will,  while  it  falls 
short  of  a  voluntary  effort  if  it  fails  of  these  characteris- 
tics. 

Observations. 

(I.)  As  undertakings  should,  in  general,  be  carried 
through  to  completion  in  order  to  make  them  profitable, 
so  in  order  to  succeed  in  d'eveloping  intellectual  power, 
mental  activity  must  be  continued  till  permanent  forms 
are  gained.  It  has  been  a  criticism  of  the  early  battles 
fought  in  Virginia  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union  that 
they  were  not  fought  through.  Many  a  lesson  is  lost, 
many  an  intellectual  struggle  is  rendered  fruitless  by  be- 
ing cut  short  before  the  end  is  reached.  There  should 
be  a  distinct  end  in  some  unification,  and  it  should  be 
held  that  until  this  is  gained  nothing  is  gained.  Take, 
for  instance,  the  inventor.  However  perfectly  he  may 
conceive  of  some  parts  of  his  machine,  it  is  of  no  value 
until  he  gains  a  clear  conception  of  all  the  parts  in  com- 
bination as  one  working  machine. 

(II.)  To  avoid  waste  of  energy  from  a  failure  to  carry 
out  an  intellectual  undertaking,  a  teacher  should  exercise 
care  not  to  make  lessons  too  difficult.  A  short  and  sim- 
ple task,  well  mastered,  is  worth  more  than  a  long  and 
difficult  one  half  done.     The  habit  of  sitting  and  poring 


g6  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

over  books  from  which  not  an  idea  is  gained,  and  of 
moping  over  a  recitation  or  a  task  in  composition,  when 
there  is  no  clear  thought  to  express,  is  ahke  a  waste  of 
time,  a  waste  of  energy,  and  an  injurious  habit. 

(III.)  It  should  be  remarked  that,  according  to  this 
Law,  we  are  not  justified  in  laying  down  the  rule  that 
pupils  should  never  be  required  to  commit  to  memory 
what  they  do  not  understand,  unless  we  limit  the  mean- 
ing of  "understand."  If  a  pupil  is  studying  a  lesson  for 
the  purpose  of  gaining  an  understanding  of  its  contents, 
it  should  be  within  his  ability  to  understand;  but  if  he 
is  studying  it  to  commit  to  memory,  it  may  possibly  be 
that  no  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  question  of  his 
understanding  it  first.  Other  things  being  equal,  the 
laws  of  memory  would  require  an  understanding  first, 
but  we  come  to  understand  nothing  perfectly,  and  some 
truths  may  be  profitably  stored  in  the  memory  for  future 
use  before  the  understanding  is  developed  to  do  more 
than  grasp  the  outlines. 

(IV.)  The  truths  that  should  be  taught  without  refer- 
ence to  an  understanding  of  all  that  is  involved  in  them 
at  first  are  those  fundamental  truths  which  have  grown 
with  the  slow  growth  of  civilization,  and  are  the  basis  of 
thought  and  action.  Too  much  time  may  be  spent  in 
trying  to  develop  the  principles  of  the  decimal  system  of 
notation  before  practice  in  writing  and  reading  numbers 
is  required.  All  the  principles  of  number  are  involved 
in  addition  and  subtraction,  or  perhaps  even  in  addition, 
but  it  would .  not  be  profitable  to  detain  a  child  on  these 
fundamental  operations  till  these  principles  were  devel- 
oped. What  is  simple  about  them,  and  what  can  be 
readily  understood,  should  be  made  clear,  and  then  the 
processes  may  be  employed  in  advanced  work.  In  the 
same  way,  fundamental  moral  principles  should  be  laid 


BENT    OF    MENTAL   ENERGY.  97 

down  for  practical  guidance  without  reference  to  doubt- 
ful and  puzzling  questions  that  may  arise  in  connection 
with  them. 

Law  V. — Degradation  into  the  More  Uncertain, 
Obscure,  and  Indefinite  is  the  Direction  of  Least 
Resistance  in  Mental  Energy  when  Excited  to  Ac- 
tivity. 

First  Proof. — To  hold  even  one  of  the  most  famiHar 
truths  before  the  mind  so  that  it  stands  out  in  conscious- 
ness in  all  its  outlines  and  details  as  a  certainty,  requires 
more  energy  than  to  hold  it  in  dim  outline,  and  accept  its 
validity  because  we  see  no  reason  to  deny  it. 

Second  Proof. — The  faculties  of  the  mind  generally  tend 
in  the  direction  of  the  uncertain,  obscure,  and  indefinite, 
unless  the  energy  of  the  mind  is  continually  stimulated  to 
renewed  activity. 

Third  Proof. — In  passing  from  an  easier  to  a  more  diffi- 
cult form  of  activity,  as  from  perception  to  reasoning,  the 
consciousness  is  at  first  more  vague  and  less  certain,  and 
requires  an  additional  impulse  to  make  the  reasoning  dis- 
tinct. Generalizations  and  abstractions  require  a  strong 
effort  to  bring  them  into  perfect  consciousness. 

Observation. 

The  waste  of  mental  energy  from  failing  to  develop  a 
perfect  consciousness,  and  from  the  consequent  degrada- 
tion and  dissipation  of  force,  is  the  most  serious  loss  to 
which  the  mind  is  subject  in  its  struggle  to  gain  power. 
When  we  consider  the  time  spent  in  studying  truths  which 
are  not  incorporated  with  the  mind,  when  we  consider  the 
feeble  response  awakened  by  the  myriad  forms  of  beauty 
that  continually  appeal  to  the  eye  and  ear,  and  the  feeble 

S.  E.-9. 


98 


THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 


response  of  conscience  to  the  beauty  of  moral  truths  and 
deeds  of  righteousness,  when  we  think  ^f  the  drudgeries 
of  work  that  in  our  conception  are  only  related  to  exist- 
ence instead  of  being  built  into  a  noble,  exalted,  and  hal- 
lowed life,  we  can  see  something  of  the  fearful  waste  of 
energy  that  comes  from  making  the  aim,  the  unifying 
principle  of  Hfe,  so  narrow  that  eflfort  is  dwarfed,  and 
actual  achievement  loses  its  value.  The  loss  comes  from 
ceasing  to  fight  before  the  battle  is  finished.  The  energy 
excited  to  activity  will  be  conserved  only  as  we  make  the 
end  of  life  true  and  large  enough  to  afford  a  distinct  and 
sure  place  for  every  deed  worthily  done,  and  every 
thought  truly  gained,  an  end  that  will  harmonize  them 
all  in  conscious  unity. 


CHAPTER  III. 

NATIVE    ACTIVITY. 

Y  Native  Activity  is  meant  the  activity 
of  native  energy.  This  is  what  is  usually 
called  self-activity.  Attraction  may  be 
said  to  be  a  native  activity  of  matter,  be- 
cause it  is  a  power  dependent  upon  the 
nature  of  the  attracting  body,  which  other  bodies  only 
make  manifest  by  calling  it  into  action.  Resistance  in 
matter  is  a  native  activity  when  it  is  manifested  in  repul- 
sion. When  a  child  sees  an  object  which  it  desires,  and 
reaches  out  its  hand  for  it,  we  trace  the  action  to  the 
native  activity  of  the  will,  a  power  called  into  exercise  by 
the  presence  of  the  object  desired. 

2.  That  the  powers  of  the  mind  are  not  to  be  traced  to 
any  force  belonging  to  matter  has  been  shown  in  the 
chapter  on  Physiological  Relations.  But  it  is  of  so  great 
importance  for  the  teacher  to  recognize  the  fact  that  all 
activity  of  the  mind  is  native  activity,  that  the  subject  is 
taken  up  here  in  detail,  and  the  special  laws  of  the  mind 
in  relation  to  it  given  more  at  large. 

Law  L— All  Mental  Activities  Spring  from  a 
Latent   Power  of   Activity   Native  to   the    Mind. 

First  Proof. — Perception  is  a  native  activity.  That 
there  is  a  relation  between  an  object  seen  and  the  organic 
sense  of   sight,   such  that   the  vibratory  motion  coming 

(99) 


rOO     '    '     "     "     JHE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

<"' '  frOm-an  objefct'is  transferred  to  the  optic  nerve  in  a  man- 
ner similar  to  the  transmission  of  force  from  one  object  to 
another  when  motions  of  other  kinds  are  produced,  seems 
a  reasonable  explanation  of  the  conditions  for  vision. 
But  this  is  not  sight.  Light  from  an  object  makes  an  im- 
pression on  the  sensitized  plate  of  a  camera.  But  we  do 
not  say  the  camera  sees  the  object.  The  question  may 
be  asked  how  we  know  the  camera  does  not  see  the 
object.  Such  a  question  is  sometimes  put  as  if  to  throw 
doubt  on  the  distinction  made  between  mental  energy  and 
physical  force.  But  it  is  rather  an  evidence  of  the 
necessity  for  the  distinction.  The  very  asking  of  the 
question  shows  that  no  one  is  so  bold  as  to  say  that  the 
physical  impression  is  sight.  The  question  assumes  that 
for  sight  lo  be  possible  there  must  be  some  power  of  con- 
sciousness in  the  camera  to  perceive,  and  the  thing  asked 
for  is  how  we  know  there  is  not  this  consciousness  there. 
In  order  to  produce  any  perception  there  must  be  not 
only  an  impression,  such  as  that  of  light  on  the  sensitized 
plate,  but  an  activity  comparing  this  with  other  impres- 
sions of  the  past,  and  such  a  comparison  always  implies 
mind  as  its  source.  The  activity  of  perception,  then,  can 
be  traced  to  mind  and  no  further.  The  moment  we  leave 
conscious  mind  we  get  no  activity  of  perception. 

If  perception  is  a  native  activity,  then  all  the  higher 
exercises  of  consciousness  are  native  activities.  In  the 
first  place,  they  all  depend  on  the  perceptions,  and  with- 
out the  native  activity  of  perception  they  could  not  exist. 
In  the  second  place,  whatever  is  peculiar  to  these  activi- 
ties, that  is,  whatever  belongs  to  them  apart  from  percep- 
tion, can  only  be  traced  to  inherent  powers  of  the  mind. 
After  perception,  there  is  no  element  of  power  introduced 
from  abroad.  In  the  third  place,  the  same  element  of 
comparison  which  is  found  in  perception  is  found  as  an 


ACTIVITY    AND    NATIVE    ENERGY:       '     -  ■  loi 

essential  element  in  all  cognitions,   and  the '  feelings  Irid' 
volitions  depend  on  the  cognitions. 

Second  Proof. — In  what  we  call  the  interchange  of 
thought,  or  the  imparting  of  instruction  or  information, 
the  ideas  must  be  formed  in  the  mind  of  the  learner  by 
his  own  mental  activity.  All  the  instructor  can  do  is  to 
represent  ideas  by  symbols  that  have  no  resemblance 
to  the  form  of  the  ideas  in  his  mind,  whether  they  be 
vocal  sounds  or  written  characters,  and  the  learner  must 
have  the  power  to  form  the  same  ideas  in  his  mind,  or  he 
will  fail  to  follow  the  thought  expressed  by  the  symbols. 
There  is  no  transfer  of  mental  power  from  one  mind  to 
another,  either  directly  or  indirectly.  However  plainly 
an  idea  may  be  represented,  it  will  have  no  effect  on  a 
mind  that  is  not  in  a  condition  to  form  it  for  itself.  The 
principles  of  science  are  not  more  clearly  manifest  in 
nature  to-day  than  formerly,  and  the  ancients  had  minds 
to  formulate  the  laws  of  science  as  we  have,  but  the 
minds  of  men  have  only  been  prepared  by  degrees  to  see 
these  principles  and  infer  the  laws. 

Observations. 

(I.)  The  teacher  should  reaHze  the  limited  range  of 
duties  to  which  his  responsibilities  are  confined.  He  can 
not  think  for  his  pupils,  he  can  not  feel  for  them,  he  can 
not  form  resolutions  for  them.  For  him  to  set  his 
thoughts,  feelings,  and  resolutions  before  them,  and  think 
he  has  imparted  these  exercises  of  his  mind,  and  that  his 
pupils  have  them  because  he  has  set  them  forth  clearly,  is 
a  piece  of  self-deception,  and  the  most  common  of  all  a 
teacher's  mistakes;  and  it  is,  if  possible,  more  harmful 
than  common.  Examination  day  reveals  startling  mis- 
takes of  pupils  that  a  teacher  would  not  imagine  possible 


'     '  102'       '    '     '     •'   THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

</',',    <•',',      !   i'  1        ' 

''  • '''  'when'lte  is  tryiifg  to  give  instruction,  but  which,  from  the 

pupil's  point  of  view,  are  more  natural  inferences  than 

the  truth  would  be. 

( II.)  The  teacher  should  not  expect  a  pupil  to  take  his 
place  in  looking  at  a  subject,  but  he  should  himself  seek 
the  position  of  the  pupil,  and  try  to  bring  truth  within 
the  range  of  clear  vision  from  that  point  of  view.  Legis- 
lators who  mingle  with  the  people,  lawyers  who  know  the 
men  likely  to  sit  in  the  jury  box,  ministers  who  make 
themselves  acquainted  with  the  daily  lives  of  the  members 
of  their  congregations,  and  teachers  who  become  familiar 
with  the  grade  of  intelligence  of  their  pupils,  with  the 
thoughts  that  are  accustomed  to  occupy  their  minds,  and 
with  their  habitual  conduct  under  various  influences,  have 
a  great  advantage  in  doing  effective  work.  A  whole 
battery  of  artillery  fired  at  random  may  fail  to  drive  a 
squad  of  the  enemy  from  the  woods,  when  a  few  well- 
directed  rifle-shots  would  scatter  them  at  once.  The 
teacher  should  economize  time  and  energy  by  adapting 
himself  to  the  thing  that  needs  to  be  done. 

(III.)  In  teaching,  one  should  aim  at  individuals 
rather  than  at  a  class  as  a  whole.  The  method  of  teach- 
ing pupils  by  classes  instead  of  separately  is  liable  to  lead 
to  the  neglect  of  individuals.  Especially  is  there  danger 
if  a  teacher  depends  much  upon  answers  given  in  concert. 
If  one  pupil  gains  the  thought  desired,  another  is  likely 
to  do  the  same,  and  the  portion  of  the  class  that  needs 
the  development  of  that  thought,  and  is  prepared  for  it, 
will  receive  precise  and  certain  instruction.  Other  por- 
tions of  the  class  will  be  taken  in  the  same  way  for  what 
they  most  need  in  their  turn. 

(IV.)  Teachers  should  guard  against  being  too  severe 
in  their  judgments.  They  should  bear  in  mind  that  pupils 
are  not  educated  up  to  their  standard,  or  they  would  not 


ADAPTATION    TO    INDIVIDUALS.  I03 

need  instruction  from  them.  Children  should  be  judged 
in  the  light  of  their  attainments  and  capacities.  By  taking 
pains  to  find  out  the  mental  and  moral  ground  on  which  a 
pupil  stands,  the  teacher  will  not  only  increase  his  ability  to 
give  the  aid  required,  but  he  will  awaken  expectation  and 
hope  in  the  mind  of  the  child.  The  consciousness  of  the 
power  to  do  a  child  good  will  also  strengthen  the  desire  to 
do  what  is  already  the  teacher's  duty,  and  often  the  better 
understanding  will  modify  the  judgment  as  to  the  child's 
character.  Teachers  often  complain  that  parents  do  not 
know  what  their  children  do  at  school.  If  the  teachers 
realized  what  forces  secure  better  conduct  from  the  same 
children  at  home,  they  would  make  better  use  of  the  op- 
portunities and  advantages  that  come  to  them. 

(V.)  A  pupil  gains  a  conception  of  a  subject  which  is 
not  in  the  form  of  the  teacher's  conception  of  it.  It  is 
perhaps  not  the  best  form,  but  it  is  the  way  in  which  the 
subject  presents  itself  to  the  pupil,  and  the  conception  has 
truth  in  it.  But  the  study  of  the  subject  all  goes  for 
naught  because  the  teacher  sets  up  a  standard  by  which 
the  pupil's  thoughts  can  not  fairly  be  judged.  If  the 
pupil  has  really  studied,  and  if  his  thoughts  are  capable 
of  being  made  clear  and  consistent,  it  is  better  to  lead 
him  to  continue  his  notions  to  their  legitimate  conclusion, 
and  then  point  out  a  better  way,  if  there  be  one,  than  to 
stop  his  thinking  entirely  by  attempting  to  substitute 
foreign  thoughts  for  his  own.  Any  honest  effort  to  express 
thoughts  that  come  from  honest  study  is  worthy  of  con- 
sideration. 

(VI.)  A  teacher  should  show  the  same  fairness  in  esti- 
mating the  value  of  answers  to  questions  in  examination. 
Some  answers  may  be  called  perfect,  and  some  failures, 
and  many  will  lie  between  the  two  extremes.  In  some 
cases  there  is  no  middle  ground,  but  generally  a  pupil 


I04  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

may  show  a  commendable  knowledge  of  a  subject  without 
being  perfect. 

(VII.)  The  individuality  of  pupils  should  be  studied 
and  their  best  powers  developed.  Differences  in  native 
endowment,  and  differences  in  training  lead  individuals 
to  form  different  views  of  the  same  subject  presented  in 
the  same  light.  Each  should  be  allowed  his  own  view, 
because  it  is  his  as  much  as  his  hands  or  his  eyes,  and  he 
should  be  encouraged  to  hold  it,  so  far  as  it  conforms  to 
the  truth,  and  an  effort  should  be  made  to  supplement 
each  view  with  that  which  is  necessary  to  harmony.  Two 
persons  visit  Niagara  Falls.  One  looks  upon  the  scene 
with  wonder  and  admiration,  and  sits  down  to  express  his 
ideas  and  his  emotions  on  canvas.  The  other  sets  him- 
self to  work  to  devise  some  plan  by  which  the  power  he 
sees  displayed  may  be  saved  for  the  use  of  man.  The 
two  may  not  have  a  thought  in  common,  and  yet  each 
displays  the  highest  skill  in  his  own  way.  If  the  artist 
were  to  be  judged  by  a  commercial  standard,  he  would 
be  rated  very  low.  The  same  would  be  the  judgment  if 
the  inventor  were  tried  simply  by  the  rules  of  art.  If  the 
artist  had  been  educated  only  in  mechanical  pursuits,  and 
the  inventor  only  in  art,  no  standard  of  judgment  would 
place  either  of  them  very  high.  Neither  could  be  fairly 
Judged  till  his  best  powers  had  been  developed. 

(VIII.)  Sometimes  the  best  powers  of  a  man  escape 
observation  till  late  in  life,  when  they  are  suddenly 
brought  to  light  by  the  force  of  circumstances,  of  which 
no  artificial  system  of  training  can  take  the  place.  Such 
in  an  eminent  degree  were  Oliver  Cromwell  and  General 
Grant,  and  such  in  a  lower  measure  are  many  others, 
whom  nothing  but  the  actual  struggles  of  life  seem  able  to 
arouse  to  the  display  of  their  greatest  powers.  But  while 
no  school  can  be  made  a  complete  substitute  for  experi- 


NATIVE   ACTIVITY   DEVELOPED.  I05 

ence,  it  nevertheless  remains  true  that  nature  has  appointed 
the  time  of  life  when  large  experience  of  the  world  is  im- 
possible as  the  time  of  the  greatest  plastic  possibilities  of 
the  mind.  It  is  clear  from  this  order  of  nature  that  the 
mental  faculties  should  be  largely  developed  before  the 
responsibilities  of  life  are  felt  in  their  fullness,  and  that 
the  teacher  should  not  leave  the  most  fruitful  powers  of 
one  to  lie  dormant  because  they  differ  from  the  powers 
of  another. 

(IX.)  The  teacher  should  not  be  satisfied  till  the  pupils 
have  clothed  their  thoughts  in  some  form  of  clear  and 
correct  expression.  Only  in  this  way  can  he  make  him- 
self sure  what  these  thoughts  are.  It  is  not  enough  that 
a  class  appears  interested.  This  is  only  an  indication  of 
the  degree  of  activity, — not  of  the  kind  or  value.  The 
ideas  may  be  numerous  and  entirely  erroneous  or  of  little 
use. 

Law  II. — Native  Activity  is  Developed  by  a  Suc- 
cession OF  Different  Impressions. 

First  Proof. — This  law  is  but  a  direct  application  of 
the  general  law  of  mental  activity.  The  natural  tendency 
of  mental  energy  to  unification  is  native  activity,  and  as 
unification  is  equilibrium,  it  requires  differences  to  excite 
action. 

Second  Proof.  —  Every  scientific  discovery  brings  to  light 
many  new  discriminations,  and  serves  as  a  new  impulse 
to  mental  activity.  The  discoveries  and  inventions  of 
Harvey  and  Jenner,  of  Copernicus  and  Newton,  and  of 
Watt  and  Morse,  have  marked  epochs  in  the  world's 
progress,  and  increased  the  sum  of  its  activities. 

Third  Proof. — The  development  of  new  industries 
opens  a  wider  range  and  creates  greater  diversity  in  the 


Io6  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

objects  that  engage  thought,   and  thereby  gives  a  new- 
impetus  to  mental  activity. 

Fourth  Proof. — The  division  of  labor  narrows  the  range 
of  necessary  thought  for  any  one  individual,  and  dimin- 
ishes mental  activity. 

Observations. 

(I.)  The  most  important  means  of  stimulating  thought 
is  experience.  All  else  depends  upon  this.  When  we  are 
told  how  small  a  proportion  of  the  city  children  have 
ever  seen  a  cow,  a  reaper,  or  a  plow,  and  how  small  a 
proportion  of  country  children  know  any  thing  of  city 
life  and  habits,  we  should  reahze  the  necessity  of  training 
the  senses,  and  furnishing  them  with  the  knowledge  of 
experience  before  attempting  to  draw  inferences  for  them' 
by  the  use  of  words  that  have  to  them  no  meaning. 
When  it  is  said  that  one  half  of  the  world  does  not  know 
of  what  the  other  half  is  thinking,  it  might  be  added  that 
it  would  not  know  if  it  were  told,  for  it  has  had  no  such 
experience. 

(II.)  Pictures,  language,  and  other  signs,  when  under- 
stood, represent  a  wide  range  of  objects  of  thought  almost 
instantaneously,  and  should  be  substituted  for  objects  as 
soon  as  they  are  clearly  comprehended.  Language  is  es- 
pecially the  means  of  stimulating  thought,  because  of  its 
ability  to  condense  truths  and  make  clear  distinctions,  and 
because  of  the  readiness  with  which  it  may  be  used.  If 
we  are  sometimes  astonished  that  people  have  seen  so 
little  of  life,  we  should  be  more  astonished  at  their  in- 
ability to  name,  or  in  any  way  represent  to  themselves  a 
large  proportion  of  the  things  they  see.  Language  should 
be  cultivated  side  by  side  with  experience  as  a  means  of 
stimulating  mental  activity. 


AIM    OF    A    QUESTION.  I07 

(III.)  One  of  the  most  important  means  of  stimulating 
thought  is  questioning.  This  art  should  be  studied  alike 
with  respect  to  its  aim,  its  logical  order,  the  subject  about 
which  something  is  asked,  the  predicate,  and  the  form. 
By  the  aim  of  a  question  is  meant  the  thought  it  is  de- 
signed to  stimulate.  By  the  form  of  a  question  is  meant, 
in  this  connection,  the  force  of  the  copula  as  determined 
by  its  form,  position,  and  modifiers.  From  this  law, 
three  rules  for  questioning  may  be  drawn  in  regard  to 
the. aim  of  a  question. 

Rule  i. — Let  a^ery  question  he  based  on  a  clear  discrimi- 
nation, possible  to  the  mind  of  the  pupil.  This  is  a  neces- 
sity, to  stimulate  activity.  If  a  teacher  asks  for  the  sub- 
ject of  the  lesson,  when  the  lesson  is  miscellaneous,  the 
question  is  not  discriminating.  Any  question  that  applies 
to  one  subject  as  well  as  to  another  is  not  discriminating. 
The  question  should  set  the  mind  to  thinking  on  some 
point  essential  to  the  lesson.  It  is  not  enough  that  a 
point  is  marked  off  by  differences ;  it  should  be  marked 
off  by  such  differences  as  lead  the  mind  to  connect  it 
with  the  general  thought,  or  it  will  lead  to  confusion,  not 
to  clear  discrimination.  To  ask  who  is  the  author  of  a 
certain  historical  statement,  and  who  is  the  author  of  a 
mathematical  demonstration,  are  questions  equally  distinct 
in  themselves,  but  they  do  not  equally  lead  the  mind  to 
proper  discrimination.  In  the  first  case,  the  authorship 
largely  fixes  the  value  of  a  statement.  In  the  latter  case, 
to  associate  authority  and  reasoning  is  misleading. 

Rule  2. — Let  the  questions  of  a  lesson  present  diversity. 
The  teacher  should  be  prepared  to  call  up  in  succession  a 
variety  of  distinct  topics,  to  maintain  activity  in  the  minds 
of  pupils.  The  remark  should  be  repeated  here,  which 
has  been  made  elsewhere,  that  to  be  tired  of  a  thing  does 
not  of  necessity  imply  exhaustion.     To  dwell  on  a  single 


Io8  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

topic  with  distinctions  too  slight  to  impress  the  mind  of  a 
pupil  makes  the  mind  dull,  and  develops  no  power.  No 
set  time  should  be  allotted  a  point,  nor  should  a  teacher 
dwell  upon  each  part  of  a  lesson  with  the  same  degree  of 
particularity,  without  regard  to  what  the  pupil  knows 
before  he  begins;  but  a  point  should  be  held  up  until 
clearly  perceived,  and  then  a  different  point  should  be 
immediately  entered  upon.  To  be  able  to  pass  from 
point  to  point  rapidly,  and  make  the  points  distinct  and 
various,  requires  careful  preparation. 

Rule  3. — Let  the  questions  on  a  lesson  be  complete  as  a 
whole,  so  as  to  lead  to  the  completion  of  the  unification  in 
the  end.  However  rapidly  some  of  the  points  are  passed 
over,  all  should  be  brought  up  to  the  mind,  that  each 
part  of  the  unification  may  be  distinct. 

(IV.)  Unification  requires  that  however  diverse  the 
topics  discussed  under  a  general  subject,  there  should  be 
some  clearly  discerned  element  by  which  they  may  be 
bound  together,  and  which  shall  aid  the  mind  in  deter- 
mining the  character  of  the  discriminations  to  be  held  in 
view. 

Law  III. — Native  Activity  is  Directed  by  the 
Choice  and  Arrangement  of  Stimulants. 

As  already  stated,  there  is  a  line  of  least  resistance  in 
the  case  of  mental  energy,  as  of  physical,  but  the  mind 
also  seeks  the  direction  of  the  exciting  cause.  The  proofs 
of  this  are  conclusive. 

First  Proof. — The  form  of  activity  in  perception, — 
that  is,  the  perception  of  color,  sound,  taste,  and  so  forth, 
is  determined  by  the  stimulus  presented  to  the  senses. 
Memory  is  determined  by  the  direction  given  to  thought 
by  the  will  or  by  some  accidental  circumstance.     The 


ACTIVITY    MAY    BE    DIRECTED.  I09 

conclusions  of  reason  are  determined  by  the  arguments 
held  before  the  mind.  In  the  same  way  all  the  faculties 
act  in  the  direction  of  the  stimulating  cause. 

Second  Proof. — When  different  stimulants  act  at  the 
same  time,  one  may  be  so  strong  as  to  attract  the  entire 
attention,  or  the  energy  may  be  divided  and  leave  the 
activity  indistinct.  For  instance,  the  mind  may  be  so 
active  in  thinking  as  to  be  unconscious  of  physical  pain, 
or  the  pain  may  be  so  great  as  to  render  consecutive 
thinking  impossible,  or  a  slight  weariness  may  render 
thinking  languid,  while  there  is  a  continual  feeling  of 
uneasiness.  In  any  case  we  see  activity  following  the 
direction  of  some  stimulus. 

Third  Proof. — In  the  case  of  the  will,  opposing  motives 
produce  indecision,  and  the  weakest  motive  prevails  and 
produces  activity  in  its  direction  if  the  stronger  motives 
are  obscured  or  cut  oif  from  view. 

Observations. 

'  (I.)  The  elements  of  a  subject,  as  they  are  taken  up 
successively,  should  be  arranged  in  such  order  as  to  lead 
the  mind  to  form  its  conception  of  the  whole  most  natu- 
rally. What  rules  may  be  laid  down  to  determine  this 
order,  it  will  belong  to  the  laws  of  unification  to  suggest ; 
but  without  these  rules  it  may  easily  be  seen  whether  a 
point  bears  on  the  end  aimed  at  or  not,  and  a  teacher 
should  so  present  each  point  he  makes  that  the  pupils  will 
see  the  bearing  on  the  general  conception. 

(II.)  A  question  must  lead  the  mind  if  it  stimulates 
thought.  But  it  should  do  this  by  presenting  discrimina- 
tions for  comparison.  Its  form  should  not  suggest  the 
unification  sought,  or  the  pupil  will  accept  this  and  return 
it  for  an  answer,  instead  of  making  the  required  com- 


no  THE   SCIENCE    OF   EDUCATION. 

parison  for  himself.  It  should  compel  the  mind  to  make 
the  comparison  of  things  and  arrange  the  answer  from  its 
unifying  of  these.  This  general  rule  covers  the  ground 
of  many  of  the  special  rules  for  questioning.  Such  are 
the  cautions  against  asking  leading  questions,  giving  in 
a  question  the  information  for  which  it  asks,  asking  ques- 
tions that  can  be  answered  by  yes  or  no  or  other  easy 
guessing,  intimating  by  voice  or  by  a  significant  word  what 
answer  is  expected,  and  so  forth. 

(III.)  The  following  additional  rules  for  questioning 
may  be  deduced  from  this  law. 

Rule  i. — Let  the  aim  in  a  question  possess  a  logical  order. 
A  series  of  questions  should  be  progressive,  with  the  pur- 
pose of  drawing  out  thought  in  the  answers  that  will  fairly 
represent  the  entire  subject  in  its  completeness,  and  with 
a  due  relation  and  proportion  of  parts. 

Rule  2. — Let  the  subject  in  a  question  that  is  to  be  com- 
pared with  the  predicate  for  unification  be  such  as  can  be  held 
in  the  mind  of  the  pupil  as  a  single  unit. 

Rule  3. — Let  the  subject  be  definite^  that  it  may  be  held 
without  confusion.  This  requires  that  it  should  not  only 
be  definite  in  itself,  but  also  in  the  mind  of  the  pupil. 

Rule  4. — Let  every  question  be  clear  in  all  its  parts,  that 
a  comparison  may  reveal  identity  and  non-identity  with 
certainty. 

( I.)  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  word  simple  is 
relative  in  its  application.  What  would  be  simple  to  one 
would  be  complex  to  another.  In  Arithmetic,  that  about 
which  something  is  asked  is  often  too  complex  for  an  un- 
trained mind,  and  it  should  be  simplified  by  dividing  the 
question.  The  question,  What  is  the  cost  of  a  lot  100 
rods  long  and  60  rods  wide,  at  $75  per  acre?  may  be 
easily  divided  into  three  parts  :  how  many  square  rods  ? 
how  many  acres  ?  what  is  the  cost  ?    To  make  a  question 


RULES    FOR    QUESTIONING.  Ill 

simple  in  this  way  is  much  better  than  teaching  to  imitate 
the  method  of  its  solution. 

(2.)  If  to  the  above  question  it  were  added  that  ten 
acres  were  swampy  and  worthless,  the  subject  would  be 
made  indefinite ;  that  is,  it  does  not  indicate  itself  what 
conditions^are  to  be  put  together  and  identified  in  the 
result.  The  swampy  land  would  be  looked  upon  natu- 
rally as  affecting  the  result,  but  when  the  question  is  exam- 
ined carefully,  it  is  found  it  has  nothing  to  do  with 
''what  is  the  cost?"  It  leads  only  to  confusion,  and  is 
opposed  to  activity. 

(3.)  The  subject  should  be  clear  in  itself.  In  the  last 
case  the  subject  was  clear  when  standing  alone,  but  was 
indefinite  when  compared  with  the  predicate.  A  subject 
may  be  definite  and  not  clearly  put.  The  terms  used 
should  be  such  as  to  be  clearly  understood,  and  they 
should  stand  in  a  natural  order. 

(4.)  A  question  may  be  asked  either  to  lead  to  activity 
of  the  faculty  of  judgment  or  to  determine  certainty  of 
judgment.  In  the  first  case,  the  question  should  present 
variety  for  comparison;  in  the  second  place,  definiteness 
of  the  objects  to  be  compared. 

To  develop  activity.  Rules  five,  six,  and  seven  are 
given,  as  follows: 

Rule  5. — Let  the  predicate  in  a  question  be  general ;  that 
is,  let  it  designate  a  class  of  things  to  which  the  subject 
belongs,  and  with  which  comparison  may  be  made  for 
identification.  It  should  indicate  a  sufficient  number  of 
things  to  develop  judgment. 

Rule  6. — Let  the  predicate  be  definite,  in  order  that  when 
the  comparison  is  made  the  identification  may  be  certain. 
Sometimes  a  definite  predicate  is  not  clear  to  a  child,  in 
which  case  clearness  must  be  developed  before  certainty 
is  possible. 


112 


THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 


Rule  7. — Let  the  predicate  be  unambiguous.  The  mind 
should  not  be  leftXin  doubt  by  holding  up  two  sets  of 
ideas  with  which  tcy^compare  the  subject. 

Rule  8. —  To  develop  certainty  of  judgment^  let  the 
predicate  be  simple^  definite^  a?id  clear  like  the  subject  and 
for  similar  reasons.  ^ 

Rule  9. — Let  the  mode  of  asking  a  question  be  without 
prejudice.  Nothing  in  the  tone,  inflection,  or  modifica- 
tion of  the  copula  should  indicate  what  answer  ought  to 
be  given.  Having  the  two  terms  of  the  comparison,  the 
identification  ought  to  be  left  to  consciousness.  Yet,  if 
there  is  reason  to  fear  that  an  answer  has  been  made  or 
will  be  made  without  thought,  a  misleading  tone  or  form 
of  question  may  be  a  good  method  of  detecting  it. 

The  rules  for  questioning  derived  from  this  law  may  be 
summed  up  and  tabulated  as  follows : 


A.  General  Rule. — A  question  should  develop  com- 
parison and  unification  in  consciousness. 

B.  Special  Rules. 

(i.)  The  aim  in  a  question  should  be  adapted  to  a 
logical  order. 


(2.)  The  subject  should  be 


1.  A  simple  unit. 

2.  Definite. 
-?.  Clear. 


(3.)  The  Predicate 


To  lead  to  ac- 
tivity should  be 

I 
To  determine 
certainty 
should  be 


1.  General. 

2.  Definite. 

3.  Unambiguous. 

1.  Simple. 

2.  Definite. 

3.  Clear. 


RULES    FOR    QUESTIONING.  II3 

(4.)  The  form  or  mode  of  the  question  should  be 
without  prejudice. 

C.  Illustrations. — Skillful  questioning  so  well  illus- 
trates the  laws  of  development,  and  the  art  is  so  important, 
that  some  examples  are  here  given  to  make  the  above 
Rules  more  clear  and  to  enforce  their  importance. 

(i.)  Suppose  a  teacher  to  be  giving  a  lesson  to  children 
on  plants.  He  may  tell  them  that  if  they  will  examine, 
they  will  generally  find  that  the  flowers  have  an  outer 
cup  of  a  green  color,  called  a  calyx,  which  is  separated 
into  leaves  called  sepals;  that  inside  the  calyx  is  another 
cup,  blue,  white,  or  some  other  color,  called  a  corolla, 
the  leaves  of  which  are  called  petals  ;  that  around  inside 
the  corolla  is  a  row  of  thread-like  stems  called  stamens; 
and  in  the  center,  a  slender  stem  different  from  the 
stamens  called  a  pistil.  He  may  describe  the  shapes 
and  uses  of  the  different  parts,  tell  how  the  plant  is 
nourished,  what  chemical  changes  are  produced,  and  so 
forth,  till  he  has  given  a  complete  description  of  plants  in 
general,  and  explained  clearly  the  processes  of  growth 
and  fruitage. 

The  lesson  may  be  very  plain  to  the  teacher,  and 
it  may  seem  to  him  so  simple,  accurate,  and  orderly 
that  no  one  can  miss  the  different  points.  But  if  we 
ask  what  is  the  value  of  the  lesson  to  the  class,  we 
must  not  be  satisfied  with  their  expressions  of  wonder, 
nor  with  what  the  lesson  contains;  we  must  ask  how 
much  unified  thought  it  has  developed.  Taking  this  as 
a  basis  of  judgment,  we  shall  find  that  the  children  have 
been  able  to  form  very  few  notions  corresponding  to  the 
notions  of  their  teacher,  because  they  have  never  observed 
plants  in  a  way  to  gain  concepts  of  the  things  described, 
and  that  the  lesson,  which  seems  so  perfect  in  itself,  is 
almost  valueless  to  them. 

s.  E.-IO. 


114  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

(2.)  Let  US  now  suppose  a  method  of  questioning  adopt- 
ed for  the  same  lesson,  with  sp>ecimens  before  the  class. 

If  different  kinds  of  flowers  are  taken,  and  the  fact  is 
first  developed  that  some  have  the  calyx  and  others  do 
not,  Rule  I  will  be  violated,  because  an  attempt  is  made 
to  classify  flowers  before  developing  the  idea  of  a  flower. 

If  flowers  of  a  single  kind  are  given  and  the  children 
are  asked  what  they  see  about  them,  they  will  give  differ- 
ent answers.  This  shows  that  the  subject  asked  about  is 
not  a  simple  unit.  One  unifies  one  part  of  it,  and  another 
another  part. 

If  the  question  is  asked  how  many  parts  are  found  in 
the  flower,  the  subject,  ''parts,"  will  be  indefinite,  for  the 
children  have  not  yet  learned  where  to  make  the  divisions. 

If  the  seed  is  small  and  it  be  asked  what  is  its  shape, 
the  subject  will  lack  clearness.  It  may  require  a  glass 
and  some  experience  to  see  distinctly  the  form  of  a  small 
seed. 

On  what  part  of  the  stamen  is  the  anther  found  ?  con- 
tains a  predicate  that  calls  for  little  discrimination,  and 
may  be  used  to  develop  certainty,  but  not  activity  of 
judgment. 

Where  do  the  stamens  stand?  is  ambiguous,  for  the 
answer  might  refer  to  their  being  inside  the  corolla,  or 
their  position  on  some  other  part  of  the  flower. 

(3.)  But  if  the  teacher  puts  flowers,  all  of  one  kind, 
into  the  hands  of  the  children,  and  says  he  wishes  them 
to  take  them  to  pieces,  for  he  is  going  to  tell  them  about 
the  parts,  and  then  has  them  begin  by  taking  off"  the 
calyx  and  laying  the  sepals  by  themselves,  and  so  on  with 
the  other  parts,  he  may  call  attention  by  questions  to  the 
differences  between  the  parts,  their  color,  form,  number, 
and  so  forth,  in  a  manner  easily  leading  to  the  identifica- 
tions he  desires  them  to  make. 


QUESTIONING    ILLUSTRATED,  II5 

(4.)  Let  us  take  an  example  of  questioning  bor- 
rowed from  Socrates. 

The  following  is  abridged,  but  not  otherwise  changed, 
from  a  section  of  Gorgias,  Jowett's  translation.  Socrates 
is  seeking  to  show  CaUicles  that  pleasure  and  pain 
are  not  the  same  thing  as  good  and  evil,  and  that 
good  is  not  to  be  sought  by  wise  men  for  the  sake  of  the 
pleasant,  but  the  pleasant  for  the  sake  of  the  good. 

After  several  attempts  of  Socrates  to  secure  from  CaUi- 
cles a  definite  answer  to  the  question.  Whom  do  you  mean 
by  the  better  ?  the  dialogue  proceeds : 

Socrates. — I  wish,  my  friend,  you  would  tell  me,  once 
for  all,  whom  you  affirm  to  be  the  better  and  superior, 
and  in  what  particular  ? 

CaUicles. — I  have  already  told  you  that  I  mean  those 
who  are  wise  and  courageous  in  the  administration  of  a 
State;  who  ought  to  be  rulers  over  their  States,  and 
ought  to  have  an  advantage  over  their  subjects. 

Soc. — What!  my  friend,  are  they  to  have  more  than 
themselves  ? 

Cal. — How  do  you  mean? 

Soc. — I  mean  that  every  man  is  his  own  ruler. 

Cal. — What  do  you  mean  by  his  ''ruling  over  him- 
self" ? 

Soc. — A  simple  thing  enough;  just  what  is  commonly 
said,  that  a  man  should  be  temperate  and  master  of  him- 
self, and  ruler  of  his  own  pleasures  and  passions. 

Cal. — How  charming!  you  mean  those  fools — the  tem- 
perate ? 

Soc. — Certainly :  any  one  may  see  that  to  be  my  meaning. 

Cal. — Quite  so,  Socrates;  and  they  are  really  fools,  for 
how  can  a  man  be  happy  who  is  the  servant  of  any  thing? 
The  truth  is  this,  that  luxury  and  intemperance  and 
license,   if  they  are  duly  supported,   are  happiness  and 


Il6  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

virtue :  all  the  rest  is  a  mere  bauble,  custom  contrary  to 
nature,  fond  inventions  of  men  nothing  worth. 

Soc. — Then  those  who  want  nothing  are  not  said  to  be 
truly  happy? 

Cal. — No,  indeed,  for  then  stones  and  the  dead  would 
be  happiest  of  all. 

Soc. — The  life,  then,  of  which  you  are  now  speaking, 
is  not  that  of  a  dead  man,  or  of  a  stone,  but  of  a  cor- 
morant ;  you  mean  that  he  is  to  be  hungering  and  eating  ? 

Cal.—Yts. 

Soc. — And  he  is  to  be  thirsting  and  drinking? 

Cal. — Yes,  he  is  to  have  all  his  desires  about  him,  and 
to  be  able  to  Hve  happily  in  the  gratification  of  them. 

Soc. — Go  back  to  our  former  admissions.  Did  you  say 
that  to  hunger  was  pleasant  or  painful? 

Cal. — I  said  painful,  but  that  to  eat  when  you  are 
hungry  is  pleasant. 

Soc. — And  thirst,  too,  is  painful? 

G?/.— Yes. 

Soc. — And  you  would  admit  that  to  drink  when  you  are 
thirsty  is  pleasant  ? 

Cal.— Yes. 

Soc. — And  in  the  sentence  which  you  have  just  uttered, 
the  word  *  *  thirsty  "  implies  pain  ? 

G7/.— Yes. 

Soc. — And  the  phrase  '*to  drink"  is  expressive  of 
pleasure  ? 

Cal— Yes. 

Soc. — There  is  pleasure  in  that  you  drink? 

Cal. — Certainly. 

Soc. — When  you  are  thirsty? 

Cal.— Yes. 

Soc. — When  in  pain? 

Cal.— Yes. 


QUESTIONING    ILLUSTRATED.  II7 

Soc. — Do  you  see  the  inference  that  pleasure  and  pain 
are  simultaneous  ? 

Cal.  — True. 

Soc. — You  said,  also,  that  no  man  could  have  good  and 
evil  fortune  at  the  same  time? 

Cal. — Yes,  I  say  that. 

Soc. — But  you  admitted  that  when  in  pain  a  man  might 
also  have  pleasure? 

Cal. — That  is  evident. 

Soc. — Then  pleasure  is  not  the  same  as  good  fortune,  or 
pain  the  same  as  evil  fortune,  and  therefore  the  good  is 
not  the  same  as  the  pleasant? 

Cal. — Do  you  suppose  that  I  or  any  other  human  being 
denies  that  some  pleasures  are  good  and  others  bad? 

Soc. — Then  I  may  assume  that  some  pleasures  are  good 
and  others  evil,  as  I  understand  your  present  meaning? 

Cal. — Yes. 

Soc. — And  in  the  same  way  there  are  good  pains  and 
there  are  evil  pains? 

Cal. — To  be  sure. 

Soc. — And  ought  we  not  to  choose  and  use  the  good 
pleasures  and  pains? 

Cal. — Certainly. 

Soc. — Then  pleasure  as  well  as  all  else  is  for  the  sake 
of  good,  and  not  good  for  the  sake  of  pleasure. 

The  method  here  adopted,  which  is  the  method  of  all 
the  Socratic  dialogues,  presents  the  following  points: 

First. — Though  several  persons  are  present,  Socrates 
does  not  enter  into  a  general  conversation  with  them, 
but  addresses  one,  and  selects  the  individual  most  difficult 
to  be  convinced. 

Secondly. — He  asks  about  a  definite  subject,  as  about 
the  better  or  superior,  about  pleasure  and  pain. 


Il8  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

Thirdly. — He  sets  the  learner  to  talking  about  the 
general  predicate  with  which  the  subject  is  to  be  com- 
pared, and  thus  leads  him  to  form  as  clear  a  notion  of  it 
as  possible.  In  this  dialogue,  Callicles  makes  a  long  talk 
(the  most  of  which  is  omitted  above)  about  the  pleasure 
which  the  better  class  ought  to  enjoy,  before  Socrates  asks 
many  questions.  It  is  in  describing  this  pleasure  that  he 
shows  he  has  not  carefully  considered  what  the  word  in- 
volves. When  the  true  conception  of  pleasure  is  clearly 
defined,  it  is  easy  to  see  it  is  not  the  same  thing  as  the  good. 

Fourthly. — The  learner  shows  he  has  not  a  clear  con- 
ception of  all  that  his  predicate  contains,  and  he  makes  a 
mistake  in  identifying  his  subject  with  it.  It  is  the  great 
work  of  Socrates  so  to  analyze  this  predicate  as  to  bring  a 
clear  and  positive  judgment  into  consciousness.  This  will 
be  as  near  the  truth  as  it  is  possible  to  attain.  Most  of 
the  questions  above  have  this  purpose,  and  as  clearness 
and  positiveness  are  all  they  seek,  they  simply  call  for 
affirmation  or  denial. 

Fifthly. — The  dialogue  passes  rapidly  and  distinctly 
from  point  to  point,  and  gives  activity  to  thought  and 
variety  to  conception. 

Sixthly. — There  is  steady  progress,  each  question  being 
in  its  place. 

Seventhly. — Intellectual  weariness  is  relieved  by  frequent 
sallies  of  wit,  or  other  appeals  to  the  feelings.  In  parts 
omitted  from  this  extract,  one  appeal  is  made  to  the  sense 
of  the  ridiculous,  one  to  Callicles's  personal  sense  of 
honor,  and  when  Callicles  is  convicted  of  error,  and  tries 
to  escape  admission  by  protesting  against  the  question  as 
*' narrow  and  little,"  Socrates  answers,  "I  envy  you, 
Callicles,  for  having  been  initiated  in  the  great  mysteries 
before  you  were  initiated  into  the  little.  I  thought  that 
was  not  allowable." 


ACTIVITY    DIRECTED    BY    THE    WILL.  II9 

Law  IV. — The  Natural  Tendency  to  Activity  may 
BE  Re-enforced  and  Directed  by  the  Will. 

First  Proof. — The  will  may  hold  up  motives  as  a  stim- 
ulus. The  fear  of  pain,  the  hope  of  reward,  a  sense  of 
duty,  and  so  forth,  are  general  stimulants  to  activity,  and 
increase  the  effect  of  specific  stimulants  that  are  adapted 
to  the  particular  faculty  brought  into  activity.  Percep- 
tion is  made  keener,  memory  quicker,  and  resolution 
stronger,  if  there  is  an  important  end  to  be  gained 
beyond  the  immediate  activity. 

Second  Proof. — By  the  exercise  of  the  will  the  attention 
may  be  directed  and  the  mental  energy  concentrated  on 
one  object.  A  feeling  of  pain  may  be  reduced  below 
consciousness,  sometimes,  by  concentrating  the  mental 
energy  on  objects  of  thought.  The  indecisive  activity  of 
a  languid  state  may  be  made  clear  and  vigorous  by  force 
of  will. 

Observations. 

(I.)  Love  of  knowledge  is  the  natural  stimulus  to 
voluntary  activity.  But  it  can  not  be  enforced  as  a  duty, 
nor  created  by  reasoning  upon  it.  It  can  only  be  felt 
when  the  knowledge  is  acquired.  As  heat  ignites  fuel, 
and  fuel  ignited  produces  heat,  so  the  activity  of  con- 
scious knowledge  gives  pleasure,  and  the  pleasure  stimu- 
lates activity.  The  manifestion  of  this  reciprocal  action  is 
so  constant  that  it  is  usually  safe  to  infer  that  if  a  pupil 
does  not  like  a  subject  he  does  not  know  much  about  it. 
The  way  to  produce  a  liking  for  a  subject  is  to  give  some 
true  knowledge  of  it.  A  person  can  not  tell  whether  he 
will  like  a  strange  fruit  or  not  by  looking  upon  it  and 
handling  it,  but  by  tasting  it.  Let  a  child  have  a  taste  of 
the  subjects  he  tries  to  handle.     A  pupil  will  be  pretty 


I20  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

sure  to  dislike  a  subject  on  which  he  is  required  to  spend 
time,  unless  he  is  made  to  get  some  knowledge  out  of  it. 
Pres't  M.  B.  Anderson  once  said  to  a  class,  ' '  Young  gen- 
tlemen, you  complain  of  not  having  a  taste  for  mathe- 
matics.    Get  a  taste  of  it  and  you  will  like  it  better." 

(11.)  Rewards  and  punishments  have  always  been  used 
by  teachers  as  a  stimulus.  They  act  mainly  through  the 
will.  They  may  come  as  a  necessary  result  of  activity,  or 
depend  upon  the  will  of  another.  In  either  case  they 
lead  to  activity  through  the  will.  In  the  first  case  the 
result  is  natural,  certain,  and  invariably  proportioned  to 
the  activity.  This  is  a  most  wholesome  stimulus.  But 
children  must  be  saved  from  the  natural  consequences  of 
their  acts.  They  can  not  feel  the  force  of  results  removed 
but  a  litde  way  from  conduct,  and  there  is  no  natural 
result  following  from  obedience  to  the  will  of  another  as 
obedience  except  what  is  determined  by  that  will.  Arbi- 
trary rewards  and  punishments  are  therefore  a  necessity, 
and  in  case  of  developing  the  sense  of  simple  obedience, 
and  enforcing  obedient  conduct,  they  are  the  only  stimu- 
lus beyond  the  conscious  feeling  that  attends  the  act. 
But,  as  the  mind  is  developed,  less  use  should  first  be 
made  of  arbitrary  promises  and  threats,  then  of  natural 
rewards  and  punishments,  and  in  the  end  love  for  the 
thing  to  be  done,  or  love  of  doing,  should  be  a  sufficient 
motive. 

(III.)  In  the  preceding  Observation,  stimulants  are 
divided  into  three  classes:  ist.  The  immediate  influence 
of  that  which  is  presented  to  the  mind ;  2d,  Natural  and 
necessary  results;  3d,  Arbitrary  consequences.  These 
are  also  graded,  the  order  of  superiority  being  that  in 
which  they  stand.  In  the  second  and  third  grades  there 
is  much  opportunity  for  choice,  and  care  should  be  exer- 
cised  to   use   always   the   highest   motives   that   will   be 


ARBITRARY    REWARDS    AND    PUNISHMENTS. 


121 


effectual.  Corporal  punishment  is  the  most  general  of  all 
arbitrary  punishments ;  that  is,  it  points  to  nothing  partic- 
ular in  conduct  except  its  general  character,  and  is  there- 
fore best  adapted  to  develop  the  consciousness  of  a  wrong 
act  as  wrong.  Punishments  that  are  adapted  to  the 
wrong  done  lead  to  a  consideration  of  the  differences  be- 
tween acts  when  the  ability  to  exercise  a  sense  of  wrong 
has  been  developed.  The  more  prominent  the  features 
of  natural  effect  which  arbitrary  rewards  and  punishments 
have,  the  higher  the  motive  they  involve.  Arbitrary  pun- 
ishment for  any  failure  leads  to  an  association  of  that 
which  is  unpleasant  with  what  ought  to  be  done,  and  is 
therefore  a  stimulus  of  a  bad  character,  and  should  be 
avoided  if  possible. 


[cS^^S^^ii/^^- 


S.  E.-ll. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


DISCRIMINATION. 


ISCRIMINATION  and  unification  are 
activities  in  opposite  directions.  They  are 
represented  under  such  terms  as  dissimi- 
larity and  similarity,  unlikeness  and  like- 
ness, analysis  and  synthesis,  and  both  are 
included  in  comparison.  They  are  recognized  as  funda- 
mental in  mental  science  and  in  teaching.  Sir  William 
Hamilton  says:  **  Comparison  is  supposed  in  every,  the 
simplest  act  of  knowledge."  Prof.  Bain  says  of  likeness, 
*'It  is  not  an  inapt  or  strained  comparison  to  call  it  the 
Law  of  Gravitation  in  the  intellectual  world."  The  prov- 
erb, ^'Bene  qui  distinguit,  bene  docei^'^  He  teaches  well  who 
discriminates  well,  is  quoted  by  Rosenkranz  in  treating  of 
Attention,  with  hearty  approval. 

2.  If  we  look  from  the  earth  to  the  sky  and  observe 
that  grass  is  green  and  the  sky  is  blue,  we  compare  two 
objects  in  respect  to  color.  In  the  comparison  we  find 
a  difference  which  we  ^e^^esent  by  calling  the  one  green 
and  the  other  blue.  When  we  say  the  sky  is  blue,  we 
distinguish  it  from  all  objects  of  a  different  color.  If  we 
say  the  sea  is  deep  and  the  sky  is  blue,  we  do  not  distin- 
guish the  sky  from  the  sea  either  in  respect  to  depth  or 
color,  for  we  make  no  comparison  between  them.  It  will 
be  seen  from  this  and  similar  illustrations  that  discrimina- 
tion involves  (i)  comparison  proper,  or  a  putting  together, 
and  (2)  the  recognition  of  difference.     Thus,  in  our  per- 

(122) 


DISCRIMINATION.  1 23 

ception  of  the  grass  and  the  sky,  our  acts  of  consciousness 
belong  to  one  class,  which  we  call  the  perception  of  color, 
and  we  distinguish  green  and  blue.  Discrimination  itself 
is  the  consciousness  of  difference,  and  involves  compar- 
ison or  unification  as  an  accompanying  state  of  the  mind. 

Law  I. — The  Senses  and  Self-consciousness  give 
Discrimination,  and  this  is  their  Special  Function. 

First  Proof. — Differences  in  external  objects  are  per- 
ceived by  the  senses,  and  differences  of  mental  state  by 
self-consciousness.  The  affirmation  of  difference  does  not 
involve  consciousness  beyond  the  acts  of  perception,  but 
a  conscious  act  of  comparison  involves  memory  and  other 
mental  faculties. 

Second  Proof. — Without  the  activity  of  the  senses  the 
first  discriminations  would  not  be  made.  The  distinctions 
made  by  reflection  are  referred  either  to  the  senses  or  to 
self-consciousness  as  the  ground  for  their  validity.  Even 
when  we  distinguish  between  a  priori  truths,  like  the  con- 
cepts of  two  circles,  we  imagine  them  as  presented  to  the 
senses. 

Observations, 

(I.)  The  senses  are  to  be  cared  for  and  trained  with 
reference  to  their  use  by  the  intellect  rather  than  with 
reference  to  their  physical  relations  to  objects  of  percep- 
tion. The  eye  is  something  more  than  a  camera  used  to 
photograph  images.  It  is  said  to  exhibit  poor  workman- 
ship if  viewed  only  as  to  its  mechanical  conformation,  and 
it  gets  its  images  the  wrong  side  up;  but  as  an  organ  of 
the  mind  it  is  surpassingly  efficient.  Its  use  should  be 
directed  to  the  end  of  securing  clear  and  quick  discrimina- 
tions. When  the  end  is  taken  into  account,  no  criticism 
can  be  made  upon  it. 


124  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

(II.)  It  is  a  Law  of  Consciousness  that  the  further  a 
mental  activity  is  removed  from  the  senses,  the  more  diffi- 
cult it  becomes.  This  is  especially  true  of  discrimination. 
The  mind  should  first  be  accurately  and  vividly  impressed 
through  the  senses.  Therefore,  words  that  represent  origi- 
nal impressions  should  be  firmly  fixed  in  the  mind,  and 
inferences  and  generalizations  will  follow  more  easily.  If 
a  general  term  is  obscure,  an  appeal  may  be  made  to  a 
specific  term,  or  the  senses  may  be  appealed  to  directly 
through  the  fact  itself.  An  example  is  better  than  a  pict- 
ure or  a  comparison.  For  instance,  if  the  word  web- 
footed  be  used  and  found  obscure,  a  reference  to  duck's 
feet  may  make  it  clear;  if  not,  then  the  web-foot  itself 
should  be  presented  for  observation. 

(III.)  Facts  should  be  observed  in  situ^  that  is,  in  their 
natural  situation  or  with  their  natural  surroundings.  Most 
persons  will  remember  the  struggles  they  have  had  in  try- 
ing to  put  together  the  pieces  of  a  puzzle.  They  have 
been  given  a  clear  idea  of  the  form  of  the  whole,  and  they 
can  see  the  forms  of  the  pieces;  but  they  have  not  been 
allowed  to  observe  the  relations  of  the  pieces  to  each 
other.  Different  from  each  other  as  the  bones  of  a  skele- 
ton are,  they  may  be  studied  and  named  with  the  greatest 
care  separately,  and  yet  not  all  of  them  be  recognized 
when  seen  in  their  natural  positions. 

(IV.)  Things  should  be  seen  in  extenso,  that  is,  in  their 
full  magnitude.  Comparing  great  things  with  small  gives 
but  an  imperfect  conception.  Virgil's  Tityrus  says:  *'The 
city  which  they  call  Rome,  I  foolishly  imagined  to  be 
like  this  our  Mantua.  So  I  had  known  whelps  like  dogs, 
so  kids  like  their  dams."  But  when  he  saw  Rome,  it 
seemed  to  him  to  differ  from  other  cities  as  the  cypress 
differs  from  the  limber  shrub.  Conceptions  of  the  rela- 
tions of  space  are  amongst  the  most  important  and  funda- 


DISCRIMINATION.  1 25 

mental  conceptions  of  the  mind.  Of  all  conceptions  of 
space,  the  conception  of  extent  is  the  most  sublime,  and 
it  especially  enlarges  the  sphere  of  the  imagination.  But 
this  conception  can  only  come  from  seeing  things  extended. 
Travel  gives  an  education,  not  so  much  because  it  enables 
one  to  see  things  new  and  strange,  as  because  it  gives 
larger  conceptions  of  nature.  The  sight  of  a  lofty  mount- 
ain, a  great  cataract,  the  ocean,  enlarges  the  power  of 
the  imagination  beyond  any  other  experience.  When 
Dickens  wants  to  intensify  the  sense  of  dreariness,  he 
pictures  a  vast  expanse  of  London's  dreary  streets.  He 
takes  little  Nell  out  by  a  way  that  leads  past  furnaces 
glaring  through  a  murky  atmosphere  with  the  glow  of 
intense  heat,  and  casting  up  clouds  of  smoke  and  cinders 
against  a  dark  sky  from  tall  chimneys  that  stand  in  rows 
along  the  streets  they  go,  furnace  after  furnace,  miles  and 
miles,  till  it  seems  to  the  way-worn  travelers  that  the 
glare  and  the  smoke  and  the  dust  and  the  day  will 
never  end.  The  view  being  prolonged,  gloom  settles 
down  and  fills  the  entire  horizon  of  the  imagination,  as 
blackness  and  spectral  forms  fill  the  horizon  of  vision. 

(V.)  Besides  the  intensity  and  sublimity  of  thoughts 
impressed  by  the  vast,  there  is  such  an  enlargement  of 
the  bounds  of  thought  that  the  imagination  finds  fitter 
places  for  the  multitude  of  things  it  would  distinguish. 
There  is  a  limit  of  littleness  beyond  which  the  senses  can 
not  go.  Unless  the  bounds  of  vision  are  enlarged  to 
correspond  with  the  extent  of  things  which  we  seek  to 
represent  to  ourselves,  the  ability  to  discriminate  them 
and  give  them  proper  places  and  proportions  will  be 
limited.  The  sky  shuts  down  very  near  us  even  in  our 
imaginations,  unless  we  have  gone  beyond  where  it  seems 
to  the  eye  to  meet  the  earth ;  and  our  conception  of  the 
things  we  see,  about  which  we  read,  and  which  we  im- 


126  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION.' 

agine,  must  be  seriously  distorted  if  crowded  into  a  world 
so  small.  Children  have  a  natural  desire  to  go  some- 
where.    This  should  be  indulged  to  a  reasonable  degree. 

Law  II. — Discrimination  is  the  Starting-point  in 
Conscious  Mental  Development. 

First  Proof. — If  it  be  true  that  the  first  conscious  activ- 
ity depends  upon  the  senses  for  its  stimulus,  and  that 
discrimination  is  the  special  function  of  the  senses,  it 
follows  that  the  first  stage  of  activity  is  discrimination. 

Second  Proof . — The  first  conscious  activity  must  be  a 
perception.  This  perception  must  be  either  (i)  an  abso- 
lute unit,  that  is,  without  relations  or  differences,  (2)  a 
discrimination  of  differences  in  unity,  or  (3)  a  unification 
of  differences.  It  has  already  been  shown  that  the  per- 
ception of  an  absolute  unit,  if  possible,  however  many 
times  repeated,  would  not  constitute  development.  The 
other  two  possible  starting-points  involve  each  other. 
Whichever  of  them  is  first,  it  presupposes  the  other. 
This  can  only  be  conceived  as  possible  by  supposing  one 
to  be  developed  from  the  things  aff"ecting  the  senses,  and 
the  other  from  the  original  constitution  of  the  mind. 
Conscious  unification  requires  a  previous  conscious  dis- 
crimination ;  but  conscious  discrimination  only  implies  a 
native  power  to  distinguish  objects  as  belonging  to  the 
same  class,  and  the  idea  of  the  class  may  be  undeveloped. 
We  see  that  there  is  a  bond  of  unity  between  the  things 
distinguished  only  after  the  discrimination  has  been  made. 
Thus,  an  incipient  conscious  activity  would  distinguish 
blue  from  green  without  having  the  idea  of  colors,  as  a 
class,  developed.  The  power  to  distinguish  colors  is 
native  to  the  mind,  but  the  conception  of  them  as  a  unity 
is  developed  in  consciousness  by  discrimination. 


DISCRIMINATION.  1 27 

Law  III. — Discrimination  is  the  Starting-point  in 
EVERY  Mental  Growth. 

First  Proof. — All  the  different  forms  of  conscious  activ- 
ity originate  in  the  stimulus  of  the  senses,  and  are  referred 
to  them  and  self-consciousness.  It  follows  that  all  these 
forms,  perceptions  of  blue,  loud,  sweet,  conceptions  of 
truth,  justice,  virtue,  and  the  different  forms  of  feeling 
and  desire,  must  begin  with  discrimination,  the  same  as 
the  first  activity  of  mind. 

Second  Proof. — We  shall  find  the  Law  sustained  if  we 
consider  any  individual  case  of  development.  To  per- 
ceive a  horse  as  an  object,  it  must  be  distinguished  from 
other  objects;  to  perceive  it  as  an  animal,  its  parts  must 
be  distinguished;  to  distinguish  it  as  a  horse,  its  size, 
shape,  and  proportions  must  be  distinguished.  The  same 
kind  of  discrimination  is  necessary  in  other  things. 

Third  Proof. — The  historical  development  of  thought 
shows  this  to  be  the  true  order.  Take  the  following  illus- 
trations as  examples,  (i)  The  true  nature  of  government 
has  been  slowly  developed  in  the  intelligence  of  men  as 
different  acts  have  been  compared  together.  (2)  Laws 
have  grown  up  and  taken  fixed  forms  only  after  the  most 
painstaking  discrimination  of  all  the  similar  cases  that 
can  arise  having  a  common  principle.  (3)  The  natural 
order  of  thought  has  been  from  the  analysis  of  philosophy 
to  the  synthesis  of  science.  (4)  Abstract  and  general 
notions  are  made  clear  only  when  different  concrete  and 
particular  examples  are  distinguished.  For  instance,  the 
abstract  idea  of  justice  could  not  be  formed  without  first 
having  in  mind  different  just  acts,  and  seeking  by  dis- 
crimination the  common  element  that  makes  them  just. 
(5)  The  subjects  treated  of  in  a  rudimentary  book  of  in- 
struction must  be  such  as  can  be  most  easily  distinguished 


128  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

from  each  other.  More  advanced  works  carry  the  division 
of  topics  discussed  into  fields  of  discrimination  that  are 
more  difficult. 

Observations  on  the  Last  Two  Laws. 

(L)  Plato  says,  ''The  beginning  is  half."  No  part  of 
an  undertaking  is  ever  more  important  than  its  beginning. 
The  principle  involved  in  the  last  two  Laws  is  fundamental 
to  the  question  of  a  right  beginning  in  mental  develop- 
ment. Its  importance  has  long  been  recognized  in  philos- 
ophy, and  its  connection  with  education  has  been  more  or 
less  clearly  seen,  though  the  full  consequence  of  recogniz- 
ing its  fundamental  character  has  not  received  the  atten- 
tion it  deserves.  In  philosophy  the  question  has  been 
long  discussed  whether  general  or  particular  notions  come 
first  into  the  mind,  whether  synthesis  or  analysis  is  first  in 
mental  activity.  The  logical  necessity  for  a  class,  in  order 
to  identify  an  individual  or  distinguish  it  by  comparison, 
was  seen  by  the  earliest  philosophers,  and  many  suppo- 
sitions have  been  made  to  account  for  the  origin  of  class 
ideas.  In  its  educational  bearings  the  principle  is  involved 
in  such  questions  as  the  following:  Shall  we  teach  by 
definition  and  rule,  proceeding  from  them  to  an  explana- 
tion of  examples,  or  shall  we  begin  with  examples  and  go 
from  them  to  the  rules?  Shall  we  begin  with  the  unity 
and  proceed  to  the  elements  by  analysis,  or  shall  we  begin 
with  the  elements  and  build  up  the  unity  by  synthesis? 
Shall  we  follow  the  order  of  induction  wholly,  or  of  de- 
duction wholly,  or  shall  we  begin  with  one  and  change  to 
the  other?  John  Stuart  Mill  holds  that  all  sciences  tend 
to  change  from  the  inductive  method  to  the  deductive, 
and  some  educators  think  this  order  should  be  followed  in 
teaching  the  sciences.     The  proper  place  for  taking  up 


BEGINNINGS    IN    DISCRIMINATION.  I29 

these  questions  fully  is  under  the  Laws  of  Unification,  and 
they  will  be  considered  there ;  but  the  principle  under  dis- 
cussion here  has  an  important  bearing  on  them,  and 
should  be  considered  with  them  fully  in  view. 

(II.)  The  principle  is  stated  by  Prof.  Bain  in  this  form  : 
''Mind  starts  from  discrimination."  It  has  been  shown 
here  that  this  principle  is  true,  not  only  of  mind  in  the 
beginning  of  its  career  of  activity,  but  equally  of  every 
class  of  activities.  The  principle  is  easily  apprehended, 
and  points  with  unerring  finger  to  the  proper  beginning  of 
every  effort  of  the  teacher.  He  should  hold  up  objects, 
ideas,  thoughts,  for  discrimination.  This  is  first.  But, 
secondly,  it  directs  him  to  the  class  of  things  to  be  pre- 
sented. They  must  be  such  as  the  mind  is  prepared  to 
discriminate  from  its  native  constitution  or  by  develop- 
ment. If  there  is  no  basis  of  unity  in  the  mind,  there 
can  be  no  discrimination. 

(III.)  The  mind  is  prepared  to  discriminate  some  no- 
tions from  its  native  constitution,  when  they  are  properly 
presented.  Such  are  the  notions  of  qualities  immediately 
perceived  by  the  senses.  Other  notions  require  that  a 
basis  of  unification  should  be  laid  before  the  proper  dis- 
crimination can  begin.  The  truth  of  a  statement  is  often 
lost  because  the  mind  is  not  prepared  to  make  a  proper 
comparison  of  the  subject  and  predicate.  A  teacher 
should  know  his  pupils,  a  lawyer  his  jury,  a  pubHc 
speaker  his  audience,  in  order  that  they  may  know  both 
what  may  be  left- unsaid  and  what  will  be  understood 
when  it  is  said.  When  a  teacher  has  furnished  himself 
with  a  sufficient  variety  of  things  to  be  discriminated,  and 
has  studied  his  pupils  till  he  is  prepared  to  select  such 
things  as  are  adapted  to  the  unifying  powers  of  individ- 
uals, he  will  doubtless  be  ready  to  believe  the  beginning 
more  than  half. 


130  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

From  these  Laws  we  may  infer  the  two  following  rules : 

Rule  i. — Present  differences  for  discrimination. 

Rule  2. — Select  differences  adapted  to  the  unifying  powers 
of  those  who  are  to  be  instructed. 

(IV.)  It  is  clear  from  these  Laws  that  whatever  the 
faculty  exercised,  there  is  but  one  method  of  developing 
activity,  and  that  is  to  stimulate  discrimination.  In  the 
case  of  perceptions,  the  illustrations  given  are  sufficient 
proof.  If  we  reflect  a  moment  on  the  memory,  we  shall 
see  that  only  those  facts  are  recalled  which  are  discrim- 
inated from  each  other,  and  from  the  mass  of  facts  treas- 
ured unconsciously  in  the  mind.  The  same  principle  is 
carried  through  the  entire  range  of  faculties,  and  illustra- 
tions may  easily  be  multiplied. 

(V.)  The  distinctions  whose  value  has  not  been  recog- 
nized is  the  mine  of  undeveloped  intellectual  wealth  from, 
which  future  stores  of  useful  knowledge  must  be  gathered. 
By  working  this  mine,  and  by  this  means  alone,  have  the 
discoveries,  the  inventions,  and  the  sciences  of  civiliza- 
tion been  promoted.  The  colors  of  the  rainbow  were  set 
in  the  sky  with  the  beginning  of  terrestrial  phenomena, 
but  the  full  meaning  of  the  distinctions  of  color  was  not 
seen  till  Newton  began  to  inquire  into  the  meaning  of  the 
same  distinctions  in  the  colors  of  thin  plates,  soap-bubbles, 
and  so  forth.  That  the  distinctions  meant  the  same  in  the 
several  cases  where  found  seemed  probable,  and  the  search 
for  a  common  cause  led  to  the  prism  and  the  science  of 
Optics ;  and  it  has  finally  led  to  a  theoretical  basis  for  the 
unification  of  light,  heat,  electricity,  and  so  forth,  as  modes 
of  motion.  The  value  of  the  expansive  force  of  steam 
was  long  unrecognized,  although  this  expansiveness  was 
daily  forced  upon  men's  observation.  The  early  inquiries 
into  the  causes  of  electricity  revealed  the  fact  that  it  is  of 
different  kinds,  but  how  different,  and  with  what  possible 


PROGRESS    BY    DISCRIMINATION.  I3I 

differences  of  application  to  useful  purposes,  no  one  sus- 
pected. Ocean  telegraphy  greatly  enlarged  the  field  of 
its  usefulness,  but  a  more  careful  observation  of  the  differ- 
ences implied  in  induced  currents  is  opening  an  entirely 
new  field  in  which  this  usefulness  may  be  multiplied.  It 
may  seem  strange  that  no  one  had  cared  accurately  to  test 
the  power  of  steam  till  Watt  gave  attention  to  it,  but  it  is  a 
wonder  repeated  with  every  new  discovery  and  invention. 
The  so-called  secrets  of  nature  have  too  long  been  sup- 
posed to  be  like  the  fabled  fire  hidden  away  in  the  seams 
of  flint,  only  to  be  revealed  by  some  superhuman  intelli- 
gence. They  are  not  hidden.  They  are  open  to  all  who 
have  the  high  purpose,  the  patience,  and  the  wisdom  to 
study  out  their  meaning.  When  Aristotle  was  upbraided 
by  Alexander  for  publishing  the  secrets  of  his  philosophy 
to  the  whole  world  instead  of  keeping  them  for  the  exclu- 
sive advantage  of  a  favored  few,  his  answer  was,  "They 
are  published,  but  not  published."  He  had  done  what  he 
could  to  publish  them,  but  the  world  could  not  under- 
stand. If  any  one  supposes  the  secrets  of  electricity  were 
hidden  away  till  Franklin  explored  its  dark  recesses,  the 
next  gleam  of  lightning  or  crash  of  thunder  should  dispel 
the  delusion.  It  did  not  behave  differently  from  its  nature 
to  arouse  the  attention  of  men  because  they  failed  to  un- 
derstand it.  It  made  no  difference  to  it  that  men  for  so 
long  a  time  only  saw,  wondered,  and  trembled.  As  elec- 
tricity is  indifferent  to  the  discovery  of  its  characteristics,  so 
are  all  the  secrets  of  nature.  They  are  plain  enough  for 
those  who  will  observe  them,  and  are  not  far  to  seek. 

(VI.)  The  knowledge  of  differences  is  not  useful  if  it 
stops  with  distinctions.  It  is  necessary  to  combine,  but 
construction  requires  discrimination  first.  This  founda- 
tion for  combination  should  be  well  laid.  It  has  been 
found  that  nothing  else  contributes  to  good  results  in  the 


132  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

sciences  so  much  as  accuracy  of  discrimination.  Mathe- 
matical computations,  made  from  observations  of  the 
stars,  laid  the  foundations  of  Astronomy.  The  use  of  the 
balance  and  the  yard-stick  have  built  up  Chemistry  and 
Physics  into  sciences.  To  the  value  of  this  principle  of 
accurate  distinctions  is  due  whatever  of  good  has  come 
from  teaching  by  definition  and  rule.  This  method  re- 
quires accurate  discriminations,  and  any  method  that 
does  this  is  better  than  any  other  method  that  fails  of  it. 
A  third  rule  for  discrimination  follows : 

Rule  3. — Require  accuracy  of  discrimination. 

Law  IV. — Active  Mental  Energy  is  Proportioned 
TO  Variety  and  Clearness  of  Discriminations. 

First  Proof. — It  is  easier  to  maintain  interest  in  a  topic 
by  presenting  variety  and  contrast  than  in  a  subject  that 
admits  of  no  such  relief;  but  there  is  greater  exhaustion  in 
proportion  to  the  greater  interest.  This  shows  a  greater 
expenditure  of  mental  energy  and  greater  activity.  What- 
ever facts  appear  inconsistent  with  this  statement  may  be 
easily  explained  on  other  principles. 

Second  Proof. — The  resistance  which  the  mind  naturally 
offers  to  the  consideration  of  a  new  head,  as  we  listen  to  a 
discourse  or  read  a  book,  when  several  have  already  been 
considered,  is  an  indication  that  it  is  more  difficult  to 
enter  upon  a  new  line  of  thought  than  to  follow  the  old 
one,  and  therefore  greater  activity  is  stimulated. 

Observations. 

(I).  Children  are  endowed  with  abundant  energy,  and 
require  a  greater  variety  of  topics  than  older  persons.  If 
the  teacher  does  not  furnish  this  variety  to  keep  them 


ACTIVITY    AND    DISCRIMINATION.  133 

busy,  they  will  be  likely  to  hunt  up  a  variety  of  exercises 
for  themselves,  regardless  of  the  trouble  they  may  cause 
others.  Skill  in  adapting  a  subject  to  the  disposition  and 
capacity  of  a  child,  and  in  presenting  variety,  will  generally 
find  ways  to  keep  him  busy  at  some  useful  work. 

(II.)  The  power  of  clear  discrimination  comes  with 
experience,  and  as  the  activity  depends  upon  clearness  as 
well  as  upon  variety,  the  character  of  the  distinctions 
made  should  be  adapted  to  the  child's  capacity.  It  is  use- 
less to  present  a  distinction  unless  it  is  felt.  Sometimes  it 
will  require  a  moment's  attention,  and  this  is  hard  to  keep 
with  children  except  by  moving  forward.  They  are  averse 
to  any  requirement  to  stop  and  think.  But  if  a  distinc- 
tion is  necessary  to  be  made,  it  should  be  sought  by  one 
means  or  another  till  obtained. 

(III.)  In  seeking  variety  for  children  it  should  not 
be  forgotten  that  the  senses  are  their  chief  means  of  dis- 
crimination. Objects  that  appeal  to  the  senses,  and 
language  that  recalls  experience,  should  be  studiously 
employed. 

(IV.)  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  much  good  is  done 
by  furnishing  variety  for  discrimination  if  that  is  the  end 
of  the  activity.  It  is  of  but  little  worth  unless  good  use  is 
made  of  it  intellectually.  But  discrimination  is  activity, 
and  it  is  the  first  step  from  dullness  toward  mental  life  and 
growth. 

Law  V. — When  Discrimination  Ceases,  Activity 
Ceases. 

First  Proof. — This  Law  follows  as  the  converse  of  the 
preceding  Law.  The  greater  the  discriminations,  the 
greater  the  activity;  the  fewer  the  discriminations,  the  less 
the  activity;  no  discrimination,  no  activity. 


134  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

Second  Proof. — When  consciousness  is  so  low  that  dis- 
tinctions of  sense  and  thought  are  dim,  the  mind  rests ; 
when  no  distinctions  are  made,  there  is  sleep  or  uncon- 
sciousness. 

Third  Proof. — Any  monotonous  sound,  not  unpleasant 
or  so  peculiar  as  to  force  its  distinctions  on  the  mind,  the 
pattering  of  rain,  the  rippling  of  a  brook,  the  swashing  of 
waves  upon  the  beach,  draws  the  attention  gently  from 
other  objects,  and  when  its  monotonous  distinctions  wear 
themselves  out,  the  listener  falls  asleep. 

Observations. 

(I.)  Provision  for  rest  and  recreation  is  as  necessary, 
sometimes,  as  provision  for  stimulating  activity,  and  it  is 
quite  as  difficult  to  devise.  The  Law  gives  light  in  one 
direction.  In  cases  of  sickness,  when  the  body  needs  all 
the  energy  it  can  have,  the  particulars  of  the  day,  the  de- 
tails of  daily  routine,  rambling  talk,  the  constant  sight  of 
visitors  coming  and  going,  or  other  movements  in  the 
room  are  alike  troublesome  and  an  obstruction  to  speedy 
recovery.  To  hold  up  to  the  imagination  a  vast,  unvaried 
plain,  to  look  upon  the  illimitable  sea,  the  expanse  of  the 
sky  with  only  its  repetition  of  star  after  star,  and  then  to 
follow  the  picture  with  unvarying  mood  on  and  on  toward 
the  infinite,  is  to  lose  the  mind  in  boundless  space,  to  be 
followed  by  forgetfulness  of  self.  In  this  way  the  sea  and 
the  mountain  unite  the  influence  of  their  care-dispelling 
uniformity  and  vastness  to  their  invigorating  breezes,  and 
bring  rest  and  strength  to  the  wearied  and  exhausted. 

(II.)  The  imagination  often  discovers  distinctions  where 
none  exist  in  reality.  This  is  a  fruitful  source  of  errone- 
ous judgments  and  harmful  actions.  Reports  and  infer- 
ences should  be  brought  to  the  test  of  facts  more  fre- 


FEEBLE    DISCRIMINATIONS. 


135 


quently  than  is  the  wont  of  injured  feelings,  for  there  is 
nothing  Hke  reality  to  dispel  excitement  that  is  without 
justification  from  the  truth. 

(III.)  The  actions  of  children  are  often  too  severely 
censured  by  the  teacher,  because  the  actions  seem  to 
imply  distinctions  which  the  children  have  not  really 
made.  The  teacher  may  develop  these  distinctions  in  the 
mind  of  a  child,  but  should  not  presume  the  existence  of 
an  evil  motive  unless  there  is  the  best  evidence  that  it  has 
been  called  into  action. 


CHAPTER  V. 

UNIFICATION. 

T  has  already  been  shown  that,  to  be 
possible  and  permanent,  discrimination  re- 
quires a  pre-existent  preparation  and  subse- 
quent growth.  The  mind  must  possess  a 
basis  of  unity  before  it  can  discriminate, 
and  discrimination  must  develop  a  consciousness  of  this 
unity  as  containing  the  differences  noted,  or  the  result  will 
be  but  a  passing  sensation. 

2.  We  speak  of  knowledge  as  being  assimilated,  as 
being  incorporated  into  the  mind,  and  we  use  other 
figures  which  represent  some  of  the  relations  of  knowl- 
edge to  the  mind,  but  they  do  not  set  forth  the  facts  com- 
pletely, and  they  are  liable  to  be  so  applied  as  to  mislead. 
We  do  not  know  the  ultimate  nature  of  an  act  of  knowl- 
edge, and  all  speculations  in  regard  to  it  seem  idle.  If 
we  limit  it  to  the  formation  and  differentiation  of  nerve- 
cells,  what,  then,  is  consciousness?  If  we  conceive  of 
the  mind  as  stamped  with  the  images  of  objects,  what 
interprets  the  relations  of  these  images  to  each  other? 
The  objects  are  only  seen  to  exist  by  themselves,  and 
their  likeness  or  unlikeness  to  each  other  is  an  interpreta- 
tion of  the  mind,  not  a  part  of  either  the  objects  or  their 
images.  If  we  adopt  the  Platonic  theory  that  the  mind 
is  originally  possessed  of  real  knowledge  which  is  called 
up  in  memory  by  experience,  what  is  it  but  a  guess  in  de- 
fault of  other  explanation,  and  a  guess  that  would  only 
(1:36) 


UNIFICATION    DEFINED.  I37 

remove  the  difficulty  back  to  a  previous  existence?  All 
we  can  do  is  to  press  our  investigation  to  a  rational  un- 
derstanding of  the  facts  we  may  discover. 

3.  In  two  directions,  we  seem  already  to  have  come  to 
the  limit  of  inquiry. 

First. — There  must  be  an  underlying  basis  of  unity  in 
the  mind  for  comparison  to  make  discrimination  possible. 

Secondly. — There  must  be  an  active  consciousness  dis- 
tinguishing differences. 

It  remains  to  discuss  here  the  activity  that  follows  dis- 
crimination; the  activity  that  is  necessary  to  permanency 
of  impressions  and  growth.  This  may  be  set  forth  as  an 
ultimate  principle  limiting  investigation  in  a  third  direc- 
tion, and  stated  as  follows : 

Thirdly. — There  must  be  developed  a  consciousness  of 
the  unity  on  which  comparison  depends  as  embracing  the 
distinctions  made.     This  is  Unification. 

4.  Knowledge  is  not  gained  by  accretion,  as  stones  are 

laid  together  in  a  pile.     It  is  a  growth.     The  elements  are 

held  together  by  an  organizing  power  of  the  mind  that 

will  not  let  them  be  removed  one  by  one,  but  by  a  power 

which  allows  disintegration  only  by  a  process  of  building 

newer  forms  to  take  the  place  of  the  old.     The  world  has 

long  known  the  rainbow  as  a  beautiful  arch  of   seven 

colors.     Now  we  conceive  of  it  as  pure  Hght,  separated 

into  seven  dissimilar  elements  by  the  prismatic  power  of 

rain-drops.     The  ancients  only  gazed  with  wonder  on  its 

penciled  beauty ;  now  we  can  scarcely  look  upon  the  bow 

in   the  cloud   without   mingling   with   admiration   of   its 

beauty  a  sense  of  awe  at  the  wisdom  that  is  able  to  weave 

those  seven  rays  together  into  the  soft  light  that  lights  the 

world;  that  can  spread  them  out  again  upon  the  cloud, 

upon  the  sea,  upon  the  sky,  upon  the  grass,  and  upon  the 

rose  at  will.     The  first  notion  of  the  bow  is  a  unification 
s.  E.-12. 


138  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

of  it  under  the  notion  of  color,  the  second  a  unification 
of  it  as  the  activity  of  molecular  forces. 

5.  The  forms  developed  in  the  mind  by  unification,  and 
here  called  unities,  may  be  distinguished  from  the  cate- 
gories of  the  metaphysician  and  from  the  unit  of  the 
mathematician. 

6.  A  unit  is  a  whole,  conceived  of  in  its  relations  to 
other  things;  a  unity  is  a  whole,  conceived  of  as  made 
up  of  parts  or  elements.  An  individual  object  is  con- 
ceived of  as  a  unit  or  as  a  unity,  according  as  we  contem- 
plate its  use  or  its  parts  and  plan.  Thus,  a  locomotive 
furnishes  the  motive  power  and  is  a  unit  when  considered 
as  a  part  of  a  train,  but  it  is  a  unity  when  considered  in 
itself.  Things  are  units  when  entering  into  our  under- 
standing of  other  things,  unities  when  understood  by 
themselves. 

7.  Categories  are  the  classes  that  would  result  if  all 
notions  were  so  arranged  that  no  notion  could  be  affirmed 
of  any  possible  object  of  thought  that  would  not  fall 
under  one  of  the  classes  named,  and  be  excluded  from 
all  the  rest.  The  characteristic  of  categories  is,  that  to- 
gether they  comprehend  all  predicates,  and  separately 
exclude  each  other.  Thus,  if  quality  and  quantity  are 
two  categories,  any  notion  that  could  be  classed  as  a 
quality  could  not  be  classed  as  a  quantity ;  any  notion 
that  could  be  classed  as  a  quantity  could  not  be  classed  as 
a  quality ;  and  any  notion  that  could  not  be  classed  as 
either,  must  belong  to  some  other  category.  The  idea  of 
the  category  is  definite  and  distinct,  but  no  classification 
has  ever  been  made  that  is  generally  acceptable,  as  at  the 
same  time  exhaustive  and  exclusive  of  each  other. 

8.  The  unity  differs  from  the  category  in  two  respects. 
First,  under  the  category  a  notion  is  predicated  as  belong- 
ing to  a  particular  subject;  in  the  unity,  a  notion  is  predi- 


UNIT,   UNITY,   AND    CATEGORY.  1 39 

cated  as  containing  the  subject.  In  the  one  case,  not 
only  the  notion  predicated,  but  other  notions  under  the 
same  category,  may  belong  to  the  same  subject;  but  in 
the  other  case,  the  notions  that  belong  to  a  unity  are  con- 
tradictory of  each  other,  and  when  a  particular  subject  is 
identified  under  a  particular  unity,  the  affirmation  ex- 
cludes the  subject  from  all  other  notions  belonging  to  the 
same  unity.  Thus,  if  we  say  the  sky  is  blue,  we  may 
think  of  blue  as  belonging  to  the  sky,  or  of  the  sky  as 
belonging  to  the  class  of  blue  things.  To  think  of  the 
quahty,  blue,  as  belonging  to  the  sky,  determines  nothing 
with  respect  to  other  qualities,  but  to  comprehend  the  sky 
under  the  notion  blue  is  to  exclude  it  from  all  other 
notions  of  color. 

9.  In  the  second  place,  the  categories  are  exclusive  of 
each  other,  while  different  unities  may  embrace  the  same 
elements.  Thus,  blue  belongs  both  to  the  unity  color 
and  to  molecular  motion.  In  speaking  of  the  rainbow 
above,  reference  was  made  to  the  fact  that  its  colors  are 
classified,  not  only  with  reference  to  each  other  as  colors, 
but  also  with  reference  to  molecular  action.  This  new 
classification  unifies  color  with  other  forms  of  molecular 
activity,  as  heat  and  electricity.  Although  blue,  heat, 
and  electricity  do  not  admit  of  comparison  with  each 
other  under  the  unity  of  color,  they  may  be  compared 
under  the  unity  of  molecular  activity,  and  their  differ- 
ences may  be  told  with  mathematical  exactness. 

10.  That  conscious  activity  naturally  develops  in  the 
direction  of  unity,  rather  than  the  category,  will  be  mani- 
fest by  a  little  consideration.  The  proposition.  The  sky 
is  blue,  may  seem  to  predicate  blue  as  belonging  to  the 
sky,  but  it  is  only  because  the  sense  of  sight  has  been  so 
accustomed  to  distinguishing  colors  that  the  work  of 
selecting  blue  and  identifying  the  sky  with  that  concep- 


140  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

tion  is  unconsciously  done.  The  term  sky  is  not  co- 
extensive with  the  term  blue,  but  the  term  blue  includes 
all  that  is  included  in  the  term  sky  with  respect  to  color. 
That  is,  blue  is  the  general  term  in  the  proposition. 
Take  the  proposition,  Caesar  was  an  orator,  a  soldier,  and 
a  statesman.  It  may  seem  at  first  that  all  the  mental 
activity  expressed  here  is  confined  to  calHng  up  the  his- 
torical character  of  Caesar,  and  applying  a  name  to  each 
prominent  element  as  it  comes  into  mind.  But  before  we 
could  know  that  Caesar  was  an  orator,  we  must  have  elab- 
orated the  term  orator  in  our  minds,  so  as  to  identify  the 
particular  character  of  Caesar  with  this  general  notion. 
Perhaps  we  compared  him  with  Cicero,  or  Antony,  and 
other  orators  or  soldiers,  before  we  decided  whether  his 
ability  in  public  speaking  was  worthy  to  rank  him  with 
the  orators.  It  is  easy  to  repeat  the  proposition,  Caesar 
was  an  orator,  while  losing  sight  of  such  comparisons,  but 
they  are  implied  as  belonging  to  the  original  development 
of  the  conception.  Thus,  the  elaboration  of  predicates  as 
including  the  subject  with  respect  to  some  unity  is  natural, 
but  the  classification  of  predicates  under  categories  is 
formal  and  artificial. 

II.  The  unities  or  bases  of  unification  may  be  divided 
into  two  general  classes,  sensuous  and  rational.  The  dis- 
crimination of  sense-percepts  is  based  upon  unities  trace- 
able to  sensation,  while  the  discrimination  of  other  facul- 
ties, even  of  memory,  is  based  upon  unities  developed 
after  the  senses  have  completed  their  work.  The  unifica- 
tion of  memory,  which  we  call  association,  is  very  general, 
and  yet  it  is  held  that  some  tie  of  relationship  must  bind 
things  together,  or  they  could  not  be  held  together  in 
memory.  Of  the  two  classes  named,  the  sensuous  are 
much  the  more  simple,  yet  it  would  be  difficult  to  give  a 
complete  list  even  of  these  unities.     Let  us  begin  with  the 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    UNITIES.  I41 

lowest  sense,  the  sense  of  touch.  Take  an  orange  in  the 
hand,  and  consider  how  many  things  may  be  learned 
about  it  from  this  sense  alone.  It  is  round,  large,  rough, 
cold,  heavy,  hard,  elastic,  and  so  forth.  The  first  affirma- 
tion distinguishes  it  from  all  other  forms,  the  second  from 
all  other  sizes,  the  third  from  all  other  surfaces.  Thus, 
we  may  go  through  with  all  the  predicates.  To  say  it  is 
round  involves  the  perception  of  it  as  a  solid;  but  this 
involves  the  notions  of  space,  extension,  direction,  surface. 
All  of  these  are  involved  in  the  perception  of  the  orange 
as  round.  These  notions  again  are  made  the  basis  of 
other  distinctions,  and  thus  each  gives  us  a  new  unity  for 
discrimination.  Thus,  we  might  go  on,  and  find  unity 
within  unity  without  limit  in  the  one  class  of  perceptions 
by  the  sense  of  touch.  By  the  other  senses  unities  are 
elaborated  in  the  same  way. 

12.  If  now  we  proceed  to  the  unities  of  the  oth^r  facul- 
ties, we  shall  find  them  increasing  more  rapidly.  In 
memory  the  orange  is  associated  with  a  thousand  friendly 
gatherings,  with  ten  thousand  faces,  with  countless  experi- 
ences of  life.  Fancy  has  played  with  it,  and  imagination 
has  built  a  cottage  by  the  orange  grove,  has  plucked  the 
delicious  fruit,  and  lived  pleasurable  years  with  friends  in 
the  soft  climate  and  amidst  the  verdant  scenes  of  a  per- 
petual spring  within  the  orange  belt.  The  orange  has 
given  its  name  to  one  of  the  colors  of  the  rainbow.  As  a 
unit  it  has  figured  in  the  mathematics  of  children,  and  to 
its  culture  and  sale  men  have  devoted  the  thoughts  and 
energies  of  a  life-time.  In  each  of  these  various  ways  the 
orange  makes  a  part  of  a,  unity  of  thought,  and  it  is  likely 
to  be  unified  in  other  ways  that  could  not  now  be  im- 
agined. Other  notions  form  parts  of  other  unities  in  a 
similar  way,  and  to  trace  them  all  would  be  impossible. 
The  mind  may  go  on  in  the  natural  development  of  itself 


142  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

by  the  development  of  notions  of  unities  into  clear  acts  of 
consciousness  without  limit.  There  is  no  end  to  this 
growth. 

13.  That  which  here  concerns  us  is  to  see  from  the 
illustration  above  that  conceptions  of  unities  are  developed 
gradually.  For  a  child  to  discriminate  an  object  with 
reference  to  a  particular  unity,  he  must  have  that  unity  de- 
veloped to  some  extent  in  its  parts.  It  is  not  at  all  prob- 
able that  even  the  first  discrimination  of  infancy  is  made 
until  the  senses  have  been  repeatedly  affected  by  things 
similar  to  each  other,  and  yet  different,  so  as  to  involve 
both  variety  and  unity.  The  very  nature  of  consciousness 
requires  this  order  of  development. 

14.  Unities  grow  in  complexity  as  the  mind  develops. 
The  sensuous  unities  are  grounded  in  the  nature  of  the 
senses,  and  they  come  into  consciousness  without  effort 
when  the  attention  is  attracted  by  differences.  In  develop- 
ing ideas  of  these  unities,  little  more  is  necessary  than  to 
direct  attention  to  differences  through  the  senses.  But  in 
the  development  of  rational  unities  the  direction  of  a 
child's  thoughts  should  be  watched  with  the  greatest  care, 
and  the  mind  should  be  kept  active  by  proper  stimulation 
until  the  unification  is  made.  The  same  subject  is  capable 
of  comparison  in  so  many  ways,  and  some  unities  are  so 
much  more  difficult  than  others,  that  it  will  require  great 
and  protracted  effort,  sometimes,  to  maintain  activity  of 
mental  energy  and  prevent  an  easier  unification  than  the 
one  desired.  We  are  conscious  of  this  in  the  working  of 
our  own  minds.  We  are  continually  falling  below  our 
ideal  standard  of  achievement.  ^We  see  an  end  worthy 
of  the  concentration  of  all  our  energies,  but  content  our- 
selves with  some  easier  and  lower  aim. 

15.  Not  all  unities  are  of  equal  value.  Most  of  them 
are  of  little  worth ;  some,  like  criminal  thoughts,  it  is  bet- 


UNITIES   DIFFER    IN    VALUE.  I43 

ter  never  to  elaborate  in  mmd.  It  would  not  be  worth 
while  to  paint  all  the  landscapes  of  earth  were  it  possible. 
It  would  not  be  profitable  for  one  to  read  the  biographies 
of  every  man  and  woman,  were  they  written,  and  were 
life  lengthened  out  for  the  purpose.  There  are  some  com- 
mon-place thoughts  and  acts,  filling  up  the  allotment  of 
life  of  even  the  wisest  of  men,  insomuch  that  it  has  be- 
come a  proverb  that  no  man  is  a  hero  to  his  valet.  Many 
nations  of  the  earth  flourish  and  pass  away  without 
making  an  impression  on  civilization  important  enough  to 
detain  the  student  a  moment  with  profit.  Much  of  the 
history  even  of  central  nations  is  of  no  value  save  to  fill  up 
the  picture.  But  there  are  some  central  nations,  some 
central  characters,  some  central  events  in  history,  the 
knowledge  of  which  will  repay  all  the  cost  of  its  acquisition. 
16.  What  is  true  in  history  is  true  in  science,  Hterature, 
art,  and  business.  No  expenditure  of  labor  or  time 
should  be  counted  too  great  in  seeking  this  masterful 
knowledge.  The  history  of  civilization  is  the  history  of 
these  important  results  that  are  mile-stones,  marking  the 
progress  of  the  race.  They  are  unified  results  in  material, 
intellectual,  and  moral  improvement.  The  elements  that 
enter  into  them  to  make  them  what  they  are,  can  be  un- 
derstood only  as  they  are  studied  in  relation  to  the  unities 
as  wholes;  that  is,  as  completed  results.  It  is  the  one 
great  object  of  the  school  to  develop  these  unities  in  the 
consciousness  of  each  successive  generation.  The  race  is 
moving  forward  along  certain  lines  of  progress,  and  a 
right  education  will  place  men  at  a  point  of  observation 
from  which  they  will  see  these  movements  in  their  true 
light.  These  points  of  observation  are  the  central  points 
toward  which  intelligence  has  grown  in  the  development 
of  thought,  and  from  which  the  mind  must  take  a  new  de- 
parture in  the  struggle  after  further  progress. 


144  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

17.  The  construction  and  use  of  the  farmer's  tools,  the 
weaver's  loom,  the  manufacturer's  engine,  the  mechanic's 
lathe,  the  methods  of  using  electricity,  the  principles  of 
law,  of  banking  and  government,  have  all  attained  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  completeness,  each  in  itself,  which  gives 
them  the  first  claim  upon  the  attention  of  every  individual 
that  is  to  follow  any  one  of  these  various  pursuits. 

18.  But  there  are  broader,  deeper  unities  than  these, 
unities  that  include  them.  In  the  midst  of  the  heated  dis- 
cussions that  arise  concerning  the  comparative  value  of 
different  courses  of  study,  it  ought  to  give  us  confidence 
in  the  substantia]  value  of  scholastic  instruction  to  con- 
sider that  certain  forms  of  intellectual  development,  such 
as  a  knowledge  of  number,  geometrical  forms,  the  con- 
struction of  the  sentence,  and  rhetorical  expression,  the 
relations  of  physical  cause  and  effect,  the  fundamental 
moral  principles,  and  rules  of  conduct  have  uniformly 
been  made  the  elementary  basis  of  teaching  in  all  ages 
and  countries.  The  study  of  the  principles  of  number, 
the  study  of  language,  the  study  of  harmony  in  music  and 
verse,  and  the  study  of  conduct  will  continue  as  long  as 
children  shall  be  born  uneducated.  When  one  is  tempted 
to  break  off  from  a  prescribed  course  of  culture,  let  him 
beware  what  he  omits,  for  there  are  standards  of  intellect- 
ual power  as  fixed  as  the  standards  of  money,  of  measure, 
or  of  physical  force. 

19.  The  differences  between  pupils  lie  deeper  than  we 
think.  The  parent  or  teacher  is  humiliated  and  put  to 
confusion  because  he  so  often  fails  to  bring  a  child  to  see 
a  truth,  or  look  upon  a  course  of  conduct  in  the  same 
light  with  himself.  A  child  does  not  learn  to  spell.  Why 
can  not  one  child  associate  the  letters  of  a  word  together 
the  same  as  another?  A  child  does  not  comprehend  the 
principles  of  number.     What  is  the  reason  he  can  not  see 


FUNDAMENTAL    UNITIES.  1 45 

the  relations  of  number  as  clearly  as  his  teacher?  Why 
is  it  that  some  children  can  not  be  made  to  see  the  bear- 
ing which  truthfulness,  honesty,  and  fidelity  have  upon 
the  character  and  course  of  life  ?  Why  is  it  that  the  crim- 
inal, during  all  the  years  of  his  incarceration,  seldom 
turns  his  thoughts  from  the  study  of  a  life  of  dishonesty  to 
that  conduct  that  tends  to  usefulness  and  honor  ?  The 
end  to  be  gained  in  all  these  cases  is  a  unity  of  attainment 
for  which  there  has  been  no  foundation  laid  in  the  mind. 
Sometimes  the  defect  is  constitutional,  sometimes  it  is  a 
defect  of  training.  Whatever  the  difficulty,  a  beginning 
must  be  made  at  the  lowest  round  of  the  ladder  where  as- 
pirations have  their  first  stimulus,  and  nothing  can  be 
more  important  than  to  know  the  laws  in  accordance  with 
which  a  basis  of  unification  is  laid. 

Law  I. — The  Power  of  Unification  is  Presup- 
posed BY  Discrimination  as  its  Psychical  Basis, 
BUT  Unification  in  Consciousness  Follows  Discrim- 
ination in  the  Order  of  Development. 

Proof. — It  has  been  shown  under  Discrimination  that 
this  is  the  relation  of  the  two  activities  in  the  beginning  of 
mental  development;  it  remains  to  show  that  the  law  is 
general. 

(i.)  What  is  the  conception  of  the  unit  one,  and  how  is 
it  developed  ?  It  may  be  thought  that  this  is  a  unified 
conception,  if  any  thing  can  be  properly  called  such.  But 
the  mind  must  apprehend  this  before  it  can  reason  at  all 
on  the  relations  of  number.  A  moment's  reflection  will 
show  that  there  are  no  differences  in  the  unit  one  to  unify. 
It  is  itself  a  discrimination  under  the  general  conception 
of  number.  It  is  the  limit  of  numerical  analysis.  Of 
these  two  conceptions,  the  unit  and  number,  the  idea  of 

s.  E.-i;3. 


V 


146  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

the  unit  precedes  all  other  definite  conceptions  of  number 
by  a  comparatively  long  time.  The  child  will  respond  to 
the  request  for  a  marble  or  a  toy  with  promptness,  and 
time  after  time  without  variation,  long  before  it  can  be 
taught  to  pick  out  two  or  three  marbles. 

(2.)  From  the  constitution  of  the  mind,  blue  is  a  dis- 
crimination of  color,  and  all  such  discriminations  have 
been  shown  to  precede  the  development  of  the  idea  of  the 
unity  color;  such  unities  need  no  further  consideration. 
But  many  unities  depend  upon  a  choice  of  elements,  and 
are  artificial  or  factitious,  and  the  lav/  should  also  apply  to 
them,  if  it  is  general.  That  in  such  cases  the  develop- 
ment of  a  unity  as  containing  differences  must  follow  dis- 
crimination is  apparent  from  the  very  statement,  for  it  is 
built  up  in  the  mind  out  of  the  elements  already  there. 
But  can  there  not  be  a  conception  of  a  unity  without  any 
consciousness  of  its  differences?  or,  when  the  unification 
follows  discrimination,  is  it  necessary  to  suppose  the  unity 
to  exist  in  the  mind  in  any  sense  before  the  discrimina- 
tions are  made  that  develop  it  in  consciousness?  For  an 
answer  to  the  first  question  take  the  conception  of  a  circle 
as  an  illustration.  This  conception  may  be  said  to  exist 
in  a  manner  without  the  distinctions  of  circumference,  di- 
ameter, and  radius;  but,  so  long  as  this  is  so,  it  exists  as  a 
discrimination  only,  as  one  of  the  forms  of  perception  in 
space,  amongst  which  it  is  distinguished  the  same  as  blue 
is  distinguished  as  a  quality.  It  is  not  distinct  in  its  true 
mathematical  character  until  it  is  conceived  of  through  the 
discriminations  by  which  the  whole  is  made  up  out  of  its 
parts.  Then  only  does  it  become  a  unity.  Such  concep- 
tions are  first  discriminated  from  other  things,  and  then 
distinctly  brought  out  into  consciousness  by  themselves  by 
a  discrimination  of  their  own  parts. 

In  answer  to  the  second  question,  whether  a  factitious 


UNIFICATION    AND    DISCRIMINATION.  147 

unity  must  be  thought  to  exist  in  any  sense  before  it  is 
developed  by  discrimination  of  the  elements  that  consti- 
tute it,  take  as  an  illustration  the  conception  of  a  machine. 
A  machine  is,  of  all  things,  most  factitious  or  artificial. 
The  development  of  a  conception  of  it  can  be  clearly 
traced  in  the  process  of  invention.  Let  us  attempt  to  fol- 
low this  process.  The  first  step  is  to  discover  something 
to  be  done.  The  second  step  is  to  entertain  the  sugges- 
tion that  this  may  be  done  by  a  machine.  The  next  step 
is  to  develop  this  indefinite  suggestion  into  definite  form, 
parts,  and  proportions.  The  inventor  begins  with  an  in- 
definite notion  of  the  machine  he  wants,  but  he  selects 
material,  and  forms  the  parts  of  his  machine  under  the 
control  of  a  definite  purpose  as  a  unifying  thought,  until 
his  plan  is  fully  developed,  and  the  machine  perfected 
according  to  the  original  purpose.  Every  step  is  in  ac- 
cordance with  a  developing  plan,  and  the  beginning  of  the 
plan,  however  crude  it  may  be,  must  have  been  in  the 
mind  before  the  development  could  begin.  The  work  of 
the  inventor  stops  with  his  plan,  and  a  large  proportion  of 
inventors  fail  to  reap  the  reward  due  to  their  inventions 
because  they  do  not  add  to  their  inventive  power  the 
skill  of  the  workman.  For  instance,  the  inventor  of  a 
well-known  knitting-machine  slowly  worked  out  his  plan, 
but  exhausted  all  his  means  in  trying  to  produce  a  work- 
ing model  without  securing  results  that  came  up  to  his 
expectations.  After  he  had  given  up  the  enterprise,  a 
skillful  mechanic  happened  to  see  the  machine,  and,  after 
examining  it,  offered  to  put  in  capital  enough  to  make 
another  test  on  condition  of  having  a  controlling  interest 
in  the  invention.  The  confidence  that  induced  the  offer 
was  based  on  the  fact  that  he  found  no  defect  in  the  plan, 
while  there  was  great  defectiveness  in  the  workmanship. 
The  inventor's  plan  is  his  unity  and  it  grows  out  of  itself. 


148  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

and  is  not  put  together  in  a  mechanical  way,  and  thus  it 
happens  that  the  inventor  himself  may  be  a  good  judge  of 
the  perfection  of  his  plan,  and  a  poor  judge  of  mechanical 
execution.  A  child  studying  inventive  drawing  may  hap- 
pen to  put  lines  together  that  will  make  a  beautiful  "de- 
sign," but  this  result  is  not  likely  to  occur,  and  even  when 
it  does,  skill  in  drawing  lines  is  cultivated  rather  than 
invention.  Children  should  always  be  urged  to  have  a 
purpose  in  whatever  they  do. 

The  process  of  the  inventor's  mind  is  the  process  of 
thought  in  the  development  of  all  factitious  unities,  as  well 
as  the  process  by  which  natural  or  organic  unities  are  de- 
veloped in  consciousness. 

Observations. 

(I.)  In  the  preceding  chapter  the  importance  of  dis- 
crimination was  dwelt  upon  as  the  beginning  of  mental 
development.  Now  we  have  come  to  a  Law  that  shows 
it  to  be  equally  important  to  direct  discrimination  to  those 
unities  for  which  the  mind  is  prepared.  Thought  moves 
along  a  continuous  path,  like  the  electric  fluid,  and  when 
the  mind  is  required  to  skip  a  step,  or  to  attempt  a  step 
it  can  not  take,  the  connection  is  broken.  One  step  at  a 
time,  quicker  or  more  slowly,  according  to  its  difficulty, 
and  each  step  in  its  own  order,  is  an  inexorable  rule. 

(II.)  Of  natural  unities  some,  as  color,  sound,  body, 
form,  depend  upon  unification  through  the  senses.  These 
are  called  sense-perceptions.  Other  natural  unities  de- 
pend upon  internal  perception  or  self-consciousness.  Con- 
ceptions of  the  powers  and  activities  of  the  mind,  of  the 
feelings  and  of  the  will,  are  of  the  latter  class.  Concep- 
tions of  the  first  class  are  developed  by  the  exercise  of  the 
senses;  of  the  second  class  by  reflection.     Some  of  these 


NATURAL    UNITIES.  I49 

perceptions  are  immediate,  that  is,  there  is  no  known  ac- 
tivity between  the  intellectual  apprehension  and  the  sen- 
sation; mental  perception  and  sensation  seem  to  be  two 
sides  of  one  activity.  But  other  perceptions  are  vicarious, 
or  substituted.  A  solid  is  directly  perceived  by  the  sense 
of  touch,  and  indirectly  by  the  eye.  But  the  rapidity  and 
versatility  of  the  eye  make  it  easier,  and  apparently  more 
natural,  to  use  sight  than  touch  in  perceiving  solidity. 
Most  of  the  perceptions  of  the  eye  are  of  this  class,  and 
it  is  mainly  in  consequence  of  its  power  to  take  the  place 
of  the  other  senses  that  it  is  superior  to  them.  The  ear  is 
next  to  the  eye  in  the  same  power.  The  conception  is 
doubtless  first  developed  by  an  immediate  perception,  but 
the  vicarious  use  of  the  eye  and  ear  become  most  com- 
mon in  practice  and  are  often  most  exact.  But  it  must  be 
observed  they  are  never  free  from  possible  error  in  such 
exercises,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  spectroscope,  in  ventril- 
oquism, and  so  forth. 

(III.)  The  natural  unities  developed  by  reflection  are 
developed  later  than  those  developed  by  the  senses,  and 
they  are  difficult  in  proportion  as  they  are  removed  from 
sensation,  and  in  proportion  to  their  complexity.  Chil- 
dren differ  from  each  other  in  ability  to  form  clear  notions 
of  these  unities,  and  some  seem  never  to  become  able  to 
grasp  common  forms.  An  idea  is  taken  as  a  unit,  not  as 
a  unity;  that  is,  it  is  discriminated  from  other  things,  but 
its  own  constituent  parts  are  not  discriminated.  This 
seems  to  be  the  case  with  those  who  are  correct  in  the  use 
of  language,  and  yet  find  the  science  of  it  difficult;  or 
those  who  can  do  any  kind  of  business  better  than  they 
can  explain  the  method  of  doing  it.  An  illustration  in 
point  is  the  well-remembered  case  of  a  student  who  learned 
the  definitions  and  the  demonstrations  of  the  first  book  of 
Geometry  by  heart,  without  being  able  to  see  the  appli- 


150  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

cation  of  a  single  statement  to  the  truth  of  the  conclusions 
drawn.  It  was  the  same  after  several  careful  reviews,  and 
she  never  became  able  to  make  an  independent  Geomet- 
rical statement  of  the  simplest  kind,  although  she  was  not 
regarded  as  deficient  in  mental  power  generally.  It  must 
be  seen  that  for  a  person  to  study  Geometry  without  the 
power  of  unifying  the  facts  is  a  waste  of  time.  But  how 
much  better  is  it  for  pupils  to  be  taught  Arithmetic  by  rule, 
and  only  required  to  believe  that  given  processes  will 
produce  given  results,  while  they  are  not  taught  to  see 
that  the  result  is  a  unity  composed  of  elements  whose  re- 
lations to  each  other  are  represented  by  the  processes  of 
the  work  ?  From  the  beginning  the  teacher  should  regard 
the  result  as  a  unity,  undeveloped  in  the  pupil's  mind,  and 
his  aim  should  be  to  secure  the  development  of  the  unity 
by  discrimination.  One  source  of  error  and  confusion  is 
the  neglect  to  distinguish  the  kinds  of  elements  related: 
a  number  of  men,  days,  or  acres  of  land  is  only  a  num- 
ber ;  the  value  is  numerical  and  no  more. 

(IV.)  What  has  been  said  about  natural  unities  is  ap- 
plicable, in  the  main,  to  factitious  unities.  These  consti- 
tute the  main  features  of  a  business  man's  thoughts  and 
the  conventionalities  of  society.  In  addition  to  what  has 
been  said  of  other  unities,  the  following  should  be  said  of 
these: 

(i.)  They  depend  upon  a  clear  development  of  the 
natural  unities.  They  are  based  on  natural  unities  such  as 
should  be  taught  in  the  schools,  and  are  but  an  application 
of  these  unities  and  the  discriminations  made  under  them 
to  the  concerns  of  life.  These  natural  unities  are  the  ma- 
terial out  of  which  is  built  the  structure  of  a  business 
character.  No  repentance  is  brought  to  the  teacher's  at- 
tention more  frequently  than  such  a  one  as  this.  A  boy 
has  learned  enough  of  a  few  things  to  see  some  value  in  a 


FACTITIOUS    UNITIES.  151 

certain  line  of  business.  He  leaves  school  to  grow  up 
into  a  business  man.  At  the  end  of  two  or  three  years  he 
finds  he  has  not  advanced  in  his  business  prospects.  When 
he  looks  for  the  reason  he  finds  he  has  exhausted  all  the 
intellectual  capital  he  began  with  in  securing  a  little  skill 
in  a  small  tread-mill  of  petty  business  activity,  the  circle 
of  which  he  can  not  enlarge.  He  returns  to  his  teacher, 
only  to  confess  his  regrets  at  the  mistake,  and  his  greatest 
sorrow  is  that  it  is  too  late  to  correct  it. 

(2.)  The  factitious  unity  in  its  inception  is  a  generaliza- 
tion, as  we  saw  it  in  the  invention  of  a  machine.  It  is 
derived  by  previous  discriminations  made  under  some 
larger  unity,  as  the  machine  was  one  of  many  kinds  of 
machines.  The  preparation  required  for  the  study  of  such 
a  unity  is  two-fold.  First,  it  must  be  distinguished  from 
the  elements  associated  with  it  in  the  larger  unity,  and 
secondly,  the  mind  must  be  prepared  to  discriminate  the 
component  elements  of  the  unity  to  be  understood.  For 
instance,  if  one  is  to  take  up  the  study  of  Mechanics,  he 
should  first  distinguish  it  from  the  other  sciences  to  which 
it  stands  related,  and  then  he  should  have  the  mathemat- 
ical training  required  to  understand  the  facts  found  in  the 
subject  itself. 

(3.)  Factitious  unities  of  value,  measure,  weight,  and 
the  like,  are  beyond  the  comprehension  of  the  young,  and 
their  minds  must  have  time  to  develop  before  any  success- 
ful appeal  can  be  made  to  their  understandings  by  figures 
representing  such  unities.  We  read  that  a  child  cried  be- 
cause he  could  not  have  the  sun  to  hold  in  his  hands,  but 
he  was  satisfied  when  an  orange  was  given  him.  The  one 
represented  to  him  no  more  than  the  other.  Children's 
toys  and  presents  should  be  estimated  for  their  adaptation 
to  secure  rudimentary  development,  not  for  their  money 
value. 


152  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

(4.)  When  instruction  is  over  the  heads  of  children,  as 
we  say,  the  fault  may  be  either  of  two  things :  the  in- 
structor may  not  make  some  of  the  intermediate  steps 
clear,  and  thus  the  connection  of  thought  will  be  broken ; 
or  he  may  leave  a  topic  completely  unified  but  without  any 
purpose  in  it  to  lead  the  mind  forward,  and  thus  interest 
will  be  sacrificed  and  attention  lost. 

(V.)  It  is  generally  better,  at  least  during  the  period  of 
school  life,  to  arrange  the  unities  for  development  with 
reference  to  regular  stages  of  progress.  There  is  first  an 
elementary  treatment,  and  then  one  more  exhaustive.  If 
the  present  law  is  correct  the  method  should  be  the  same 
for  both  classes  of  treatment.  It  is  only  by  developing  a 
unity  that  distinctions  can  be  made.  The  difference  in 
the  classes  of  treatment  should  be  in  the  discriminations. 
Suppose  the  subject  be  Astronomy.  This  may  be  descrip- 
tive, as  it  is  for  aiding  the  navigator,  or  it  may  be  the 
science  of  Astronomy.  These  two  forms  of  the  subject 
have  different  ends,  and  therefore  constitute  different  uni- 
ties rather  than  different  stages  of  the  same  unity.  If 
it  is  to  be  studied  as  a  science,  an  elementary  treatise 
should  take  the  science  as  its  unity,  the  same  as  an  ad- 
vanced work,  but  confine  its  discriminations  to  those 
differences  that  are  most  prominent  and  most  easily  seen. 
After  this  the  outline  may  be  elaborated  in  detail  by  a 
complete  treatise.  Below  the  elementary  grade  of  the 
science  may  be  given  descriptive  Astronomy,  which  takes 
up  the  phenomena  of  the  stars  from  a  different  point  of 
view.  The  end  should  be  considered  from  the  beginning 
and  the  means  adapted  to  that,  but  the  method  should  be 
the  same  in  all  cases.  In  the  same  way  history  may  be 
studied  as  biography,  as  a  description  of  events,  or  as  an 
account  of  the  development  of  nations  and  the  principles 
of  national  policy  and  civilization. 


GRADES   OF    UNITIES.  1 53 

We  may  see  the  Law  illustrated  in  teaching  reading.  A 
graded  series  of  Readers  does  not  change  the  method  of 
teaching  the  subject,  from  the  first  number  to  the  last. 
The  first  is  only  more  simple  than  the  last,  and  as  one  element 
after  another  is  mastered,  it  is  passed  over  more  lightly. 
Two  breaks  are  sometimes  made  before  reading  proper 
begins;  one  in  passing  from  letters  to  words,  the  other  in 
passing  from  words  to  sentences.  It  may  be  a  question 
whether  we  should  take  the  sentence  before  teaching  the 
alphabet,  and  develop  the  word  out  of  the  sentence  and 
the  letter  out  of  the  word;  or  take  the  word  first,  and  de- 
velop the  letter  out  of  the  word,  and  then  pass  to  the 
sentence;  or  take  the  letter  as  the  first  unity,  then  the 
word,  and  then  the  sentence.  Any  one  of  these  three 
systems  may  be  adopted  and  followed  consistently.  The 
choice  must  depend  largely  upon  the  result  of  experience. 
In  any  case  the  method  is  that  of  developing  a  unity,  and 
it  is  only  a  question  of  the  best  one  with  which  to  begin. 

(VI.)  The  preparation  and  grading  of  text-books  in 
most  subjects  has  gone  on  with  little  reference  to  the  re- 
lation which  ought  to  exist  between  an  elementary  treatise 
and  an  advanced  work.  To  select  such  points  of  a  sub- 
ject as  will  give  a  complete  view  in  outline,  and  present 
these  points  in  a  manner  to  be  clearly  understood,  is  a 
task  of  the  greatest  difficulty.  A  few  works  in  history 
have  attained  pre-eminence  in  this  regard.  Xenophon's 
Anabasis,  Caesar's  Commentaries,  and  the  first  chapter  of 
Macaulay's  History  of  England  may  be  named  as  exam- 
ples. As  a  person  approaching  a  mountain  first  sees  it 
as  a  mass,  then  notes  its  general  outlines,  and  then  ob- 
serves its  rocks,  trees,  and  ravines,  having  a  clear  vision 
at  each  stage  of  approach,  so  the  child  should  be  brought 
into  the  presence  of  the  subjects  of  human  thought.  There 
need  be  no  fear  of  presenting  too  great  thoughts.     It  is 


154  THE  SCIENCE   OF  EDUCATION. 

not  their  greatness,  but  the  multitude  of  indistinguishable 
details  that  staggers  a  child.  Children  take  hold  of  the 
greatest  problems  early  in  life;  it  is  only  a  mastery  of 
such  subjects  by  extensive  acquaintance  with  subsidiary 
elements  that  waits  for  growth. 

(VII.)  Amongst  the  factitious  unities  mention  ought 
to  be  made  of  language.  Whether  language  is  called 
artificial  or  natural,  it  is  only  vicarious,  and  expresses 
truth;  it  is  not  truth  itself.  The  word  represents  an  idea, 
the  sentence  a  thought.  Like  other  vicarious  unities 
coming  through  the  eye  and  ear,  in  consequence  of  its 
convenience  it  is  more  used  and  more  useful  than  the 
immediate  presentation  of  facts  to  the  senses.  But  it  is 
second  and  depends  upon  previous  use  of  the  senses  for 
its  development.  There  must  first  be  something  real  in 
consciousness  for  which  language  may  stand  or  it  will 
mean  nothing.  The  experience  of  the  senses  gives  us  no 
discrimination  and  no  unification.  These  must  come 
through  the  activity  of  mind,  and  the  instrument  the  mind 
uses  in  thinking  is  language.  AVithout  the  production  of 
this  convenient  instrumentality  no  intellect,  so  far  as  is 
known,  has  ever  made  any  considerable  progress.  The 
education  of  Laura  Bridgman,  with  only  the  sense  of 
touch  left  her  for  use,  is  conclusive  proof  on  this  point. 
As  the  account  is  given  in  Dickens's  American  Notes,  she 
is  represented  as  able  to  be  taught  only  to  imitate,  much 
as  a  dog  would  learn  to  perform  tricks,  until  eight  years 
of  age.  Mental  development  began  to  reveal  itself  only  at 
this  time,  when  she  learned  to  put  together  raised  letters 
that  spell  the  words  book,  key,  and  so  forth.  "But  now 
the  truth  began  to  flash  upon  her:  her  intellect  began  to 
work:  she  perceived  that  here  was  a  way  by  which  she 
could  herself  make  up  a  sign  of  any  thing  that  was  in  her 
own  mind,  and  show  it  to  another  mind:  and  at  once  her 


LANGUAGE    A    UNITY.  1 55 

countenance  lighted  up  with  a  human  expression;  it  was 
no  longer  a  dog,  or  a  parrot.  I  could  almost  fix  upon 
the  moment,"  says  her  benefactor,  "when  this  truth  dawned 
upon  her  mind,  and  spread  its  light  to  her  countenance." 
Language  fixes  the  unities  of  thought  and  enables  ^is  to 
hold  them  easily,  while  the  attention  is  rapidly  turned 
from  point  to  point,  and  a  variety  of  discriminations  are 
brought  into  distinct  consciousness  in  quick  succession, 
based  upon  the  unity  suggested  by  the  language  used. 
No  application  of  labor-saving  machinery  can  compare 
with  the  advantage  which  language  gives  to  mental  en- 
ergy. And  no  other  monument  of  a  nation's  genius  or 
achievement  can  compare  with  the  language  it  originates, 
develops,  and  constructs.  It  follows  from  this  that  ideas 
and  thoughts  should  be  clothed  in  their  proper  forms  of 
expression  as  early  as  possible  in  the  development  of 
mental  activity. 

Law  II. — The  Natural  Tendency  of  Mental  En- 
ergy When  Excited  to  Activity  is  Toward  Unifi- 
cation. 

First  Proof. — Every  time  a  child  asks  What  is  this? 
Why  is  it  so  ?  What  is  it  for  ?  he  attempts  to  identify  a  new 
difference  with  a  past  experience ;  and  until  such  questions 
are  asked,  stupidity  reigns. 

Second  Proof. — The  different  faculties  of  the  mind  mani- 
fest themselves  only  in  unifying.  Were  there  no  unifying 
tendency,  there  would  be  no  proof  of  any  thing  beyond 
reflex  action.  Memory  links  together  all  the  experiences 
of  life  in  such  perfect  unity  that  no  event  can  be  recalled 
that  does  not  suggest  others  associated  with  it,  and  thus 
life  is  made  a  unit.  The  imagination  builds  unities  out  of 
the   products  of  perception,    memory,    and    reason;   and 


156  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

without  the  manifestation  of  unification  there  is  no  mani- 
festation of  imagination.  Reason  is  developed  only  in 
the  unities  of  thought,  the  subject  and  predicate  being 
identified  with  each  other. 

Third  Proof. — The  senses  can  only  furnish  the  mind 
with  activities  corresponding  to  separate  states  of  being. 
The  mind  itself  must  relate  these  as  materials  of  thought, 
and  unless  it  seeks  relations  by  its  native  energy,  there  is 
no  way  of  explaining  its  constructive  power. 

Observations. 

(I.)  The  stimulus  to  mental  activity  is  difference  for 
discrimination,  but  the  mind  must  be  left  to  unify  of  itself. 
An  object  presented  to  the  senses  excites  discrimination, 
but  it  does  not  excite  unification.  If  the  mind  is  possessed 
of  something  with  which  it  can  identify  a  new  discrimina- 
tion, it  does  it  naturally  if  given  time ;  if  the  proper  basis 
of  unification  does  not  exist,  no  identification  can  be 
forced  upon  it.  The  activity  will  go  into  some  worthless 
generalization.  Food  may  be  selected  for  the  nourishment 
of  the  body,  but  the  condition  of  the  body  will  determine 
what  and  how  much  shall  be  assimilated.  In  the  same 
way  the  condition  of  the  mind  determines  what  and  how 
much  mental  food  shall  be  used. 

(II.)  Time  must  be  given  for  unifying  thought.  The 
body  requires  hours  to  digest  and  assimilate  food;  iden- 
tification in  mental  activity  is  assimilation  of  mental  nour- 
ishment, and  it  is  a  slower  process  than  discrimination. 
Solitary  study,  where  a  pupil  knows  he  must  depend  upon 
himself,  is  a  most  wholesome  occupation  for  a  large  pro- 
portion of  a  pupil's  time.  Indeed,  it  is  a  great  part  of  a 
teacher's  duty  to  lead  the  pupil  to  study.  In  an  autobi- 
ography of  Daniel  Webster,  the  opinion  is  expressed  that 


CONSERVATION    OF    ENERGY.  1 57 

riding  the  circuits  over  the  New  England  hills  was  condu- 
cive to  a  habit  of  reflection  that  more  than  made  up  for  the 
time  taken  by  slow  modes -of  travel.  It  was  while  fishing 
in  the  Mashpee  river,  he  tells  us,  that  he  constructed  his 
Bunker  Hill  Monument  speech.  If  two  boys  study  to- 
gether, the  brighter  one  will  get  more  help  than  he  gives. 
A  wise  man  will  learn  more  in  a  conversation  with  an 
ignorant  one  than  the  ignorant  one  from  him.  These  are 
matters  of  common  observation,  and  their  truth  depends 
upon  the  fact  that  it  requires  more  time  and  better  prepa- 
ration for  the  duller  and  the  more  ignorant  to  assimilate 
truth  than  they  can  command. 

Law  III. — Unification  Conserves  Mental  Energy. 


First  Proof. — Under  discrimination  it  was  shown  that 
mind  does  not  develop,  or  grow  without  unification.  All 
the  activity  that  stops  with  observing  differences  is  lost  so 
far  as  permanent  growth  of  mind  is  concerned. 

Second  Proof.— In  the  exercise  of  memory  only  those 
perceptions  help  to  furnish  the  mind  that  are  so  associated 
together  as  to  be  recalled  by  each  other.  In  the  same 
way  imagination  and  reason  must  make  consistent  unities 
to  develop  imagining  and  reasoning  power.  The  faculties 
of  the  mind  grow  in  proportion  as  their  activity  is  organic. 

Third  Proof  — The  growth  of  thought  through  time  has 
been  by  the  development  of  unities.  Civilization,  govern- 
ment, the  arts  and  sciences,  are  all  permanent  through  the 
development  of  a  conscious  unification  of  differences  dis- 
covered by  experience. 

Observations. 

(I.)  The  unity  should  be  held  before  the  mind  as  the 
leading  thought  when  discriminations  are  made,  that  iden- 
tifications may  be  more  easy,  and  the  differences  conserved 


t 


iS8 


THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 


by  a  higher  unity  instead  of  leaving  them  to  burden  the 
memory  by  the  laws  of  association  alone.  The  names  of 
objects  and  classes  of  objects  should  be  made  thoroughly 
familiar  as  early  as  possible,  as  representatives  of  unities ; 
and  general  statements  that  need  to  be  proved,  such  as  the 
propositions  of  Geometry,  if  they  can  be  understood  by 
themselves,  should  be  learned  before  the  demonstration  is 
studied,  that  discrimination  may  be  brought  under  the 
proper  unity  from  the  first. 

(II.)  Criticism  that  ends  with  the  destruction  of  that 
which  is  criticised  is  without  value.  A  critic  may  compel 
a  better  construction  by  destructive  criticism;  but  the 
good  is  indirectly  done,  unless  criticism  leads  to  compari- 
sons of  a  more  correct  character,  and  thus  directs  the 
unifying  powers.  The  critic  who  indulges  in  destructive 
criticism  mainly,  fails  to  develop  in  himself  a  broad  and 
strong  intellect.  Construction  should  succeed  destruction, 
and  supply  the  antecedent  reason  for  it.  We  take  down 
and  remove  that  we  may  have  a  place  for  a  new  and  bet- 
ter structure. 


ic3)^PQ^?o>J 


CHAPTER  VI. 

CORRELATION    AND    DEGRADATION. 


^^^WM 


HE  term  correlation  as  used  here  is 
borrowed  from  its  use  in  physics.  When 
the  blacksmith's  hammer  comes  down 
upon  a  piece  of  iron,  the  motion  of  the 
hammer  is  arrested  and  heat  is  produced. 
The  muscular  force  of  the  arm  imparts  motion  to  the 
hammer,  and  the  hammer  produces  heat.  Heat  is  not 
produced  till  the  motion  of  the  hammer  ceases,  and  the 
motion  is  not  produced  till  the  muscular  energy  is  ex- 
pended. So  long  as  the  energy  is  inactive,  it  is  called 
latent;  when  active,  it  is  called  kinetic.  It  is  held  that 
the  same  amount  of  kinetic  muscular  energy  will  produce 
the  same  amount  of  motion,  and  the  same  amount  of 
motion  will  produce  the  same  amount  of  heat.  That  is, 
muscular  energy,  motion,  and  heat  are  considered  to  be 
equivalents.  In  the  same  way  other  forms  of  physical 
force  have  their  equivalents  in  each  other.  It  is  held  in 
physics  that  whenever  one  form  of  physical  force  ceases 
to  exist,  its  equivalent  is  produced  in  some  other  form, 
and  that  the  physical  forces  generally  succeed  each  other 
in  conformity  to  this  law  of  force-equivalents.  The  same 
principle  may  be  found  in  mental  energy,  with  laws  anal- 
ogous to  the  laws  of  physical  forces. 

2.  But  the  absolute  correlation  is  only  theoretical.  The 
muscular  energy  can  not  all  be  changed  to  motion. 
Some  of  it  will  be  lost  in  heat.  The  part  which  is  thus 
lost,  is  said,  to  be  degraded  in  form. 

( 159 ) 


l6o  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

Law  I. — One  Form  of  Kinetic  Mental  Energy  has 
ITS  Equivalent  in  Other  Forms. 

First  Proof. — This  must  follow  from  the  third  Law  of 
Native  Activity.  If  mental  energy  may  be  so  directed 
as  to  cease  acting  in  one  form  and  made  to  act  in  some 
other  form,  correlation  must  be  inferred. 

Second  Proof. — The  illustrations  of  the  Law  are  as 
clearly  demonstrative  in  mental  energy  as  in  physical 
force.  Take  perception  and  memory.  So  long  as  energy 
is  concentrated  upon  perception,  memory  is  inactive.  In 
observing  facts  or  listening  to  an  address,  some  of  the  en- 
ergy must  be  directed  to  storing  away  our  thoughts  in 
memory  or  they  will  soon  slip  from  us.  The  effort  of 
retention  being  the  same,  memory  will  be  strong  in  pro- 
portion to  the  vividness  of  perception,  the  activity  of 
perception  contributing  to  the  retentive  power.  If  we 
compare  any  intellectual  act,  as  perception  or  reasoning, 
with  emotion,  we  shall  find  that  so  long  as  the  attention 
is  confined  to  the  intellectual  act  emotion  remains  latent. 
But  when  perception  or  reasoning  becomes  easy,  the  en- 
ergy of  intellectual  activity  diminishes  and  the  conscious- 
ness of  beauty  or  other  feeling  is  excited.  Those  who 
criticise  art  intellectually  are  in  danger  of  losing  the 
pleasurable  sense  of  beauty;  those  who  do  not  lay  the 
foundations  of  their  enjoyment  of  art  in  an  intellectual 
discrimination  can  not  appreciate  it  in  a  high  sense. 

Observations. 

(I.)  As  a  rider  arouses  activity  in  his  steed  to  be  used 
in  leaping  a  hedge  by  running  him  on  level  ground,  so  the 
mind  is  carried  over  difficult  trains  of  thought  by  an  ac- 
cumulation of  force  excited  by  easier  exercises.     Thought 


CHANGE   OF   ENERGY.  l6l 

Stimulates  thought.  Reading  a  book  that  is  vigorously 
written,  talking  with  a  person  of  mental  force,  reviewing 
one's  own  work  that  has  aroused  activity  before,  are  ways 
of  preparing  the  mind  to  undertake  a  difficult  task.  One 
story  suggests  another  as  much  by  exciting  thought  as 
from  any  resemblance  between  the  stories. 

(II.)  When  the  mind  works  successfully  in  a  certain 
direction  there  is  much  economy  in  carrying  forward  the 
work  to  its  conclusion.  The  adage,  ''Strike  while  the 
iron  is  hot,"  is  applicable  here.  Fire  in  the  furnace  that 
must  use  a  large  amount  of  heat  before  the  ore  begins  to 
melt  is  never  allowed  to  go  out.  A  person  may  expend 
fifty  pounds  of  force  a  hundred  times  in  vain  in  trying  to 
raise  a  weight  of  sixty  pounds.  A  few  more  pounds  of 
force  added  to  the  fifty  would  have  given  success  the  first 
time.  The  mind  is  like  Virgil's  Rumor, — it  gains  strength 
by  moving.  When  the  mind  begins  to  flag,  a  little  di- 
version, an  illustration,  even  something  entirely  foreign  to 
the  subject  under  consideration  may  be  a  spur  to  thought. 

(III.)  It  is  possible  to  explain  the  increase  of  power  in 
the  above  cases  partly  by  the  increased  circulation  of 
blood  in  the  brain  caused  by  thinking.  But  there  is  still 
another  cause  independent  of  this.  According  to  the 
fourth  Law  of  Discrimination,  when  the  mind  is  active 
there  is  much  material  at  hand,  many  discriminations 
fresh  in  the  mind,  some  of  which  may  be  used  to  help 
forward  the  effort  to  build  up  thought. 

(  Law  II. — Mental  Activity  is  Along  the  Line  of 
Least  Resistance. 

Proof. — Could  we  arrange  the  mental  activities  in  the 
order  of  difficulty,  we  should  find  that  an  energy  excited 
in  the  direction  of  a  more  difficult  activity  tends  to  the 

S.  E.— 14. 


1 62  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

less  difficult  form.  Two  illustrations  will,  perhaps,  be 
sufficient  to  show  this.  First,  let  us  take  the  act  of  mem- 
ory, or  the  ingraining  of  thought  into  the  very  constitu- 
tion of  the  mind.  This  is  supposed  to  be  more  exhaustive 
of  mental  energy  than  any  other  activity.  But  there  is 
no  other  mental  process  to  which  we  apply  the  will  so 
directly.  It  requires  a  direct  effort  in  addition  to  the 
stimulus  of  perception,  reasoning,  reflection,  and  so  forth 
to  commit  things  to  memory.  In  the  second  place,  con- 
sider the  acts  of  induction  and  deduction.  There  must 
be  induction  before  deduction  is  possible.  Of  the  two, 
induction  requires  a  higher  tension  of  mental  energy  than 
deduction,  because  a  larger  number  of  discriminations 
must  be  held  in  mind.  But  the  universal  tendency  is  for 
the  mind  to  satisfy  itself  with  the  smallest  amount  of  in- 
ductive evidence  possible,  and  apply  the  deductive  activity 
to  the  drawing  of  immediate  conclusions.  The  truth  of 
this  statement  may  be  seen  fully  proved  in  the  fact  that 
the  deductive  sciences,  like  Mathematics,  were  brought  to 
comparative  perfection  early  in  the  history  of  systematic 
thought;  while  the  inductive  sciences,  like  Chemistry,  are 
of  recent  appearance. 

Observation. 

It  has  been  shown  that  discrimination  is  required  to 
stimulate  and  direct  mental  activity.  But  there  must  be  a 
disposition  to  give  attention  to  discriminations,  or  the  uni- 
fication that  is  required  to  give  them  developing  effect  will 
not  follow.  The  legitimate  regulator  of  the  attention  is 
what  we  call  the  exercise  of  the  will.  By  this,  and  by  this 
alone  is  the  mind  held  to  do  its  highest  work.  The  thmgs 
that  can  only  be  accomplished  by  sheer  force  of  will  give 
the  mind  the  highest  development  of  which  it  is  capable. 


THE  WILL  CONSERVES  ENERGY.  1 63 

When  we  accomplish  something  by  a  determined  effort  we 
derive  most  satisfaction  from  it,  and  feel  it  gives  us  our 
highest  power.  The  direction  of  the  will  is  point-blank 
toward  its  object,  and  as  activities  not  under  its  control 
may  be  diverted  to  some  other  end,  they  will  be  so  di- 
verted when  the  more  difficult  processes  of  thought  are 
reached.  At  this  crisis  the  mind  should  be  held  by  a  set 
purpose  and  compelled  to  move  forward,  or  it  will  fall 
below  its  highest  possibilities. 

Law  III. — TiiE  Line  of  Least  Resistance  tends  to- 
ward Degradation  and  Dissipation. 

First  Proof. — It  was  seen,  in  discussing  the  General  Law 
of  mental  development,  that  mental  activity  which  ends 
with  differences  without  unification,  and  mental  activity 
which  unifies  without  preserving  differences,  alike  fail  to 
secure  mental  growth.  Activities  that  tend  in  these  direc- 
tions, therefore,  waste  the  energy  excited  and  tend  toward 
dissipation.  That  there  is  a  range  of  activities  below  con- 
sciousness, out  of  which  consciousness  grows  and  into 
which  it  fades  away,  is  evident  from  many  considerations. 
As  Sir  William  Hamilton  has  made  it  appear  by  his  illus- 
tration of  the  division  of  the  smallest  visible  object,  each 
part  being  invisible  alone,  but  the  two  parts  visible  when 
taken  together,  the  senses  give  perception  only  by  a  com- 
bination of  a  multitude  of  impressions  which  are  individ- 
ually below  consciousness.  A  single  leaf  on  a  distant 
tree,  the  sound  of  a  single  drop  of  water  on  the  beach, 
are  imperceptible,  but  the  sound  of  the  waves  and  the 
sight  of  the  trees  are  composed  of  such  imperceptible 
elements.  The  Law  that  consciousness  develops  from  the 
indistinct  to  the  distinct  needs  only  to  be  carried  back 
far  enough,  to  find  a  beginning  of  consciousness  in  un- 


164  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

conscious  activity.  That  it  requires  an  effort  to  develop 
indistinct  activities  into  clearness,  and  that  unless  they  are 
thus  developed  they  will  be  lost,  is  proof  of  the  tendency 
to  dissipation. 

Second  Proof. — It  has  been  shown  that  consciousness 
ends  in  indistinctness  or  undiscriminating  activity.  That 
this  is  the  natural  tendency  of  conscious  activity  we  may 
infer  from  the  fact  that  this  tendency  is  manifested 
wherever  we  trace  its  development. 

(i.)  The  discriminations  of  perception  pass  rapidly 
from  the  memory,  and  require  repeated  renewals  to  keep 
them  in  control  of  the  will. 

(2.)  The  tendency  of  thought  is  to  lose  sight  of  dis- 
tinctions, and  content  the  mind  with  generalizations. 
These  generalizations  become  less  and  less  distinct  until 
the  mind  contains  no  clear  picture.  It  is  the  natural 
progress  of  the  sentence — and  the  progress  of  the  sentence 
is  the  progress  of  thought — to  wrap  up  the  distinct,  the 
particular,  subject  in  the  more  general  predicate.  The 
mind  is  so  apt  to  lose  sight  of  all  the  distinctions  included 
in  the  predicate  that  it  comes  to  fix  the  attention  only 
upon  that  part  of  it  with  which  it  identifies  the  subject, 
and  is  sometimes  left  in  doubt,  as  we  saw  when  treating 
of  unification,  whether  the  subject  is  classified  under  the 
predicate  or  the  predicate  is  made  to  be  a  part  of  the 
subject. 

(3.)  It  is  the  tendency  of  resolution  to  degenerate  into 
desire,  of  rational  emotion  to  degenerate  into  passion,  and 
of  the  intellectual  powers  generally  to  degenerate  into  in- 
distinct consciousness.  Even  pain  is  dissipated  if  allowed 
to  find  vent  in  the  natural  expression  of  tears,  but  if  the 
natural  activity  is  restrained  by  the  will,  the  pain  is  in- 
tensified until,  perhaps,  it  breaks  over  all  bounds  and 
finds  expression  in  sobs.     The  voluntary  effort  required 


NATURAL    TENDENCY    TO    DISSIPATION.  1 65 

to  Store  thought  in  memory,  to  carry  an  argument  to  a 
conclusion,  and  to  execute  a  desire  or  purpose,  is  put 
forth  to  counteract  the  natural  tendency  to  dissipation. 
A  state  of  mind  with  conscious  distinctions  not  unified  is 
an  unstable  state,  and  can  not  continue.  It  must  identify 
either  by  unifying  the  variety,  or  by  losing  the  conscious- 
ness of  variety  in  a  generalization  that  does  not  contain 
the  differences. 

Observations. 

(I.)  That  the  force  locked  up  in  a  piece  of  coal  will  be 
dissipated  if  burned  under  the  open  sky,  that  the  force 
brought  into  activity  when  water  falls  over  a  precipice  will 
be  changed  into  heat  and  dissipated  in  space  when  the 
motion  is  arrested,  that  force  applied  to  machinery  is 
partly  turned  into  heat  and  dissipated  by  friction,  are  fa- 
miliar facts  in  physical  science.  In  the  use  of  force  to 
accomplish  physical  changes  the  greatest  ingenuity  is  ex- 
ercised to  prevent  this  waste  by  degeneration.  In  the 
development  of  mental  energy  there  is  the  same  tendency 
to  degradation  and  dissipation,  but  there  is  little  effort 
made  to  discover  the  avenues  that  lead  to  this  loss.  No 
rule  ought  to  be  applied  with  more  critical  care  than  the 
rule  to  follow  the  order  of  nature.  The  order  of  nature 
in  the  sun  is  to  dissipate  its  heat,  the  order  of  nature  on 
the  earth  is  to  bring  all  things  to  a  dead  level,  to  exhaust 
the  stores  of  heat  laid  away,  and  to  dissipate  the  heat  pro- 
duced, so  that  it  requires  the  immeasurable  reservoir  of 
the  sun's  light  and  heat  to  maintain  the  conditions  re- 
quired for  life  for  the  briefest  time.  The  rule  named  is 
just  in  the  sense  in  which  it  was  intended,  but  it  can  not 
be  applied  indiscriminately  without  error.  Only  in  the 
exercise   of   a  single   faculty    is    there   any   considerable 


l66  THE    SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

effort  made  to  guard  against  loss  by  degeneration  and  dis- 
sipation. It  is  found  necessary  to  make  a  direct  effort  to 
store  the  memory  and  make  it  retentive.  But  even  this 
effort  is  subject  to  much  criticism,  and  every  device  is 
sought  to  avoid  making  a  direct  effort  to  memorize.  Ef- 
forts to  develop  the  more  complex  faculties  rest  satisfied 
with  being  directed  toward  the  stimulation  of  activity, 
and  little  or  no  thought  is  given  to  the  question  of  what 
becomes  of  it  when  produced. 

(II.)  To  discover  the  methods  by  which  dissipation 
may  be  prevented,  we  must  know  what  forms  of  activity 
are  most  subject  to  it,  and  what  direction  of  activity  is 
toward  degradation.  These  points  will  be  taken  up  under 
the  treatment  of  the  various  mental  powers.  Only  the  gen- 
eral Law  of  conservation  will  be  treated  of  in  this  chapter. 

Law  IV. — Unification  of  Differences  is  Conser- 
vation OF  Mental  Energy. 

First  Proof. — Unification  has  been  shown  to  be  neces- 
sary to  development,  but  it  must  be  a  unification  that 
preserves  differences.  The  tendency  to  dissipation  by 
unifying  without  preserving  distinctions,  is  checked  when 
the  differences  are  held  in  the  mind,  and  when  the  energy 
excited  is  used  in  fixing  variety  of  forms  of  thotight.  The 
mind  possesses  power  in  proportion  as  it  is  able  to  bring  a 
large  number  of  activities  to  the  understanding  of  truth. 

Second  Proof. — In  making  and  holding  discriminations 
clearly  in  mind  under  the  forms  of  unities,  the  various 
powers  of  mind  are  exercised  and  developed,  and  the 
energy  thus"  called  into  action  results  in  the  development 
of  permanent  strength. 


variety  in  unity  a  conservation.  1 67 

Observations. 

(I.)  The  importance  of  carrying  through  a  purpose  or 
an  undertaking  will  be  seen  from  this  Law.  The  more 
perfectly  discriminations  are  cemented  together,  the 
stronger  the  hold  which  the  mind  has  on  them. 

(II.)  Thorough  classification  is  important  for  the  con- 
servation of  energy.  In  this  way  differences  are  most 
firmly  held  together  in  the  unities  of  thought,  and  the  very 
fact  of  classification  gives  prominence  to  characteristic 
differences. 

(III.)  In  this  Law  is  seen  the  importance  of  clear  analy- 
sis. It  has  been  noted  as  a  fact  that  the  strong  men  of 
broad  intellects  prominent  in  history  have  been  educated 
by  methods  that  lead  to  the  clearest  and  most  careful 
analysis  of  thought.  The  development  of  a  new  thought 
into  the  clear  apprehension  of  men  has  led  to  many  a 
revolution  in  government,  in  warfare,  in  business,  or  in 
individual  character.  The  United  States  government  was 
founded  upon  a  new  idea.  New  ideas  have  determined 
the  result  of  many  of  the  decisive  battles  of  the  world. 
In  the  clear  analysis  of  thought  that  brings  out  new  views 
of  truth  lies  the  teacher's  source  of  power.  As  has  been 
said,  he  that  discriminates  well,  teaches  well.  This  is 
true  both  in  respect  to  the  development  and  to  the  conserva- 
tion of  power. 

(IV.)  The  complete  assimilation  of  discriminations  in  a 
unity  is  the  culminating  process  of  development.  Analy- 
sis that  is  not  followed  by  synthesis  does  not  increase 
mental  power.  The  two  processes  must  go  together. 
The  habit  of  turning  the  attention  from  differences  to 
unity,  and  from  unity  to  differences  until  the  whole  is  seen 
in  all  its  parts,  perfects  the  work  of  development.  The 
practical  difficulty  to  be  overcome  is  that  of  holding  com- 


l68  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

plex  unities  with  sufficient  clearness  to  comprehend  the 
relations  of  all  the  parts  to  the  whole.  In  Arithmetic,  for 
example,  the  elements  that  enter  in  to  make  up  the  an- 
swer required  are  set  forth  in  the  question;  but  if  the  con- 
ditions are  complex,  it  is  difficult  for  an  untrained  mind  to 
hold  them  in  consciousness  so  as  to  see  their  relation  to 
the  unity  required.  A  repetition  of  processes  till  each 
step  becomes  almost  automatic,  is  needed  for  completely 
comprehending  such  lines  of  reasoning.  As  a  rule,  the 
briefer  and  more  distinct  the  representations  of  the  ele- 
ments and  their  relations,  the  easier  the  process  of  reasoning 
becomes.  A  fitting  word,  a  technical  term,  or  a  sign  is  a 
great  aid.  A  diagram  that  sets  forth  the  essential  unity 
of  a  sentence  and  the  relations  of  all  the  parts  at  the  same 
time,  is  a  device  of  great  value  in  Grammar  when  rightly 
used.  If  the  real  thought  is  first  put  into  the  diagram,  the 
analyzed  form  will  be  more  easily  comprehended  in  this 
than  in  any  other  way. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  advantage  of  brevity,  take  the 
rule  for  dividing  a  fraction  by  a  fraction.  It  may  be  stated 
in  any  one  of  three  forms:  i.  Multiply  the  numerator  of 
the  dividend  by  the  denominator  of  the  divisor  for  a  new 
numerator,  and  the  denominator  of  the  dividend  by  the 
numerator  of  the  divisor  for  a  new  denominator.  2.  In- 
vert the  divisor  and  multiply.  3.  Multiply  the  reciprocal 
of  the  divisor  by  the  numerical  dividend.  In  the  first 
form  the  rule  is  perfectly  plain,  and  yet  it  is  difficult  to 
keep  every  element  distinctly  in  mind  so  as  to  comprehend 
the  rule  in  one  unity  of  thought.  The  second  form  of  the 
rule  presents  every  relation  presented  by  the  first  form, 
and  so  briefly  that  it  can  easily  be  held  in  mind  as  a 
whole.  But  in  the  second  form  there  is  nothing  to  point 
out  the  course  of  thought.  In  the  third  form  the  reason- 
ing process  is  clearly  indicated  in  the  briefest  way,  and  if 


HABITS    OF    DISSIPATION. 


169 


we  distin£,uish  between  a  numerical  dividend  and  a  con- 
crete fraction,  the  reasoning  will  apply  equally  well  to 
a  concrete  and  to  an  abstract  number. 


Law  V. — The  Tendency  to  Degradation  and  Dis- 
sipation IS  Increased  by  Indulgence. 

Proof. — To  prove  this  Law,  it  is  only  necessary  to  refer 
to  the  growth  of  habits.  If  one  acquires  a  habit  of  care- 
lessness about  keeping  his  promises  or  carrying  out  his 
resolutions,  the  energy  of  his  thought,  distinctly  manifest 
in  the  promise  or  resolution,  is  dissipated;  and  the  more 
frequently  this  occurs  the  harder  it  is  to  keep  a  promise 
or  a  resolution.  The  same  weakening  effect  of  habitual 
dissipation  is  manifest  in  every  form  of  mental  energy. 

Observation. 

It  should  not  be  necessary  to  urge  any  thing  to  enforce  the 
importance  of  this  Law.  The  basis  on  which  the  young 
are  cautioned  against  the  inidulgence  of  evil  habits,  and 
most  of  them  belong  to  one  form  of  dissipation  or  another, 
is  as  strong  as  any  physical  law.  The  need  is  to  realize 
the  certainty  of  the  Law  and  the  innumerable  ways  in 
which  it  finds  application. 


5.  E.— 15. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SEQUENCE. 

HE  forms  of  mental  activity  succeed  one 
another  in  a  fixed  order.  We  saw  this 
illustrated  in  studying  the  different  mental 
faculties.  There  must  be  perception  before 
there  can  be  memory,  and  there  must  be 
memory  before  there  can  be  comparison.  When  a  teacher 
observes  the  order  in  which  a  child's  mind  naturally  de- 
velops in  understanding,  and  presents  truth  in  accordance 
with  this  order,  he  is  said  to  follow  the  order  of  nature, 
not  because  nature  presents  truth  in  this  order,  but  be- 
cause the  mind  can  develop  only  in  this  order.  The  dif- 
ferent forms  of  truth  are  presented  in  an  order  correspond- 
ing to  the  order  in  which  difj^rent  forms  of  mental  activity 
develop.  From  the  infinite  diversity  of  forms  in  which 
creative  wisdom  is  manifested  in  nature,  the  mind  selects 
only  those  that  are  adapted  to  its  condition  and  stage  of 
development.  The  teacher  follows  nature  when  he  adapts 
himself  to  this  necessity.  To  know  the  order  in  which 
truth  must  be  presented,  the  mind  must  be  studied  and  the 
laws  of  the  succession  of  its  activities  observed. 

Law  I. — The  Faculties  of  the  Mind  are  Devel- 
oped AND  Come  to  Maturity  in  the  Order  of  their 
Dependence  One  Upon  Another. 

First  Proof. — So  constant  and  regular  is  the  order  of 
development,  that  the  educational  period  may  easily  be 

(170) 


ORDER    OF    DEPENDENCE.  171 

divided  into  distinct  stages.  Rosenkranz  has  divided  it 
into  the  intuitive,  the  imaginative,  and  the  logical  period. 
Other  divisions  will  easily  suggest  themselves  to  the  mind, 
but  all  of  them  will  follow  the  order  in  which  we  have 
seen  the  faculties  to  be  dependent  one  upon  another. 

Second  Proof. — In  order  to  arrive  at  clear  reasoning,  or 
the  exercise  of  the  higher  faculties,  the  mind  must  pass 
through  the  forms  of  perception,  memory,  and  so  forth, 
but  the  lower  faculties  may  be  used  without  carrying  out 
the  process  of  reasoning.  In  fact,  but  few  of  the  activi- 
ties begun  in  the  mind  of  a  child  are  carried  through  to 
their  final  stage,  from  which  it  happens  that  the  lower 
faculties  are  most  used  and  are  first  developed  to  the  full 
extent  of  their  power. 

Observations. 

(I.)  This  Law  is  important  in  helping  to  determine  the 
order  in  which  subjects  should  be  taught,  and  the  method 
of  their  presentation.  Subjects  requiring  observation  and 
the  use  of  the  senses  should  come  first,  and  the  study  of 
all  subjects  in  every  period  of  growth  should  begin  with 
these.  Memory  should  be  both  developed  and  stored  in 
childhood.  The  ability  to  hold  things  accurately  before 
the  mind  is  essential  to  clear  reasoning  and  should  early 
be  cultivated.  Amongst  the  feeHngs  the  moral  sense  is 
early  developed,  and  the  will  may  be  trained  by  encour- 
aging the  habit  of  doing  things. 

(II.)  All  the  faculties  begin  early,  and  it  requires  but  a 
slight  development  of  perception  and  memory  to  provide 
material  for  a  large  use  of  the  higher  faculties.  The  reason 
may  begin  to  work  with  a  few  things,  and  the  number  of 
possible  combinations  increases  so  rapidly  that  the  mind 
might  stop  very  early  in  the  exercise  of  the  acquisitive  fac- 


172  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

ulty,  and  spend  all  its  strength  in  making  different  com- 
binations of  the  same  few  facts.  With  two  facts  two  com- 
binations can  be  made  if  we  discriminate  the  order  in 
which  the  facts  stand  related  to  each  other.  Three  facts 
will  give  six  combinations,  four  facts  twenty-four,  and  ten 
facts  nearly  four  million.  This  is  only  the  simplest  method 
of  comparison,  and  we  may  easily  see  that  it  is  not  for  the 
want  of  material  that  reasoning  is  developed  so  late. 
Sometimes  there  is  a  precocious  tendency  to  develop  the 
higher  faculties  before  the  lower  have  been  much  exer- 
cised, and  it  always  ends  in  raising  hopes  of  greatness  only 
to  be  disappointed.  The  law  requiring  diversity  for  gen- 
eral strength  of  mind  is  inexorable. 

Law  II.— If  Several  Faculties  Must  be  Used  to 
Complete  the  Unification  of  a  Given  Thought,  they 
ARE  Called  into  Exercise  in  the  Order  of  Their 
Dependence. 

First  Proof. — That  this  is  true  in  cases  where  the  facul- 
ties are  exercised  on  new  material  for  thought  follows  from 
the  fact  of  dependence.  If  one  of  the  faculties  to  be  used 
is  perception,  no  activity  that  depends  upon  this  can  be 
excited  without  it.  The  same  may  be  said  of  memory 
and  of  the  other  faculties  in  order 

Second  Proof. — The  same  order  must  also  be  followed  in 
making  new  combinations  of  old  material.  Any  course  of 
reasoning  is  obscure  that  does  not  call  up  to  the  mind 
with  clearness  all  the  processes  of  thought  involved  in  the 
argument;  and  because  listeners  will  not  take  the  trouble 
to  trace  statements  to  their  foundations,  their  thoughts  are 
obscure  or  erroneous.  Take  a  demonstration  in  Geometry, 
for  instance.  It  is  useless  to  talk  about  the  relations  of 
lines  and  angles  to  one  another  unless  the  mind  first  holds 
them  clearly  before  itself. 


ORDER   OF   EXERCISE.  1 73 


Observations. 


(I.)  This  Law  may  be  applied  in  the  use  of  every  subject 
of  instruction.  First^  take  the  subject  of  Reading.  If  a 
reader  simply  tries  to  present  the  words  on  the  printed 
page  in  clear  tones,  it  will  be  unpleasant  and  difficult  to 
follow  him.  He  must  use  the  printed  words  to  gain  the 
thought  of  the  author  and  then  give  this  thought  as  though 
it  were  his  own.  Inflection,  emphasis,  and  so  forth  are 
elements  in  the  expression  of  thought  which  can  not  be 
left  for  the  listener  to  supply. 

Secondly. — The  study  of  Geography  develops  ideas  of 
space  by  concrete  forms.  But  the  tendency  is  to  stop 
with  what  is  on  the  map,  and  not  bring  into  real  conscious- 
ness the  very  things  that  are  represented.  Direction  is  an 
elementary  idea,  and  the  four  cardinal  points  ought  to  be 
so  impressed  that  one  will  always  be  conscious  of  them  in 
traveling,  and  able  to  refer  every  thing  to  them  whenever 
a  map  is  studied.  But  school  and  dwelling-houses  are 
often  placed  without  reference  to  the  points  of  the  com- 
pass, and  children  grow  up  without  the  habit  of  referring 
to  standard  directions.  By  fixing  the  points  of  the  compass 
of  a  small  and  familiar  piece  of  ground,  and  having  it 
drawn  on  paper  with  objects  accurately  located,  and  drill- 
ing pupils  with  these  before  them  till  the  whole  plot  is  in- 
delibly stamped  on  the  mind,  much  may  be  done  to  lay  a 
foundation  for  accurate  thinking  in  the  location  of  places. 

Thirdly. — The  study  of  Arithmetic  is  easy  for  the  com- 
paratively young.  The  relations  of  number  all  represent 
the  relations  of  things  as  they  may  be  conceived ;  hence, 
the  subject  may  be  studied  from  concrete  illustrations. 
The  abstract  concept,  to  be  clear,  must  always  be  devel- 
oped by  the  particular  example.     But  if  the  child  does 


174  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

nothing  but  put  numbers  together  and  divide  them,  very- 
little  clear  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  number  is  gained. 
The  thought  should  go  back  easily  to  the  examples  from 
which  the  notions  of  the  principles  were  first  evolved. 
If  figures  represent  not  only  a  definite  number,  but  definite 
objects,  it  is  as  important  to  keep  the  objects  definitely  in 
mind  as  the  number  of  them.  If  a  figure  represents  a 
ratio,  as  rate  per  centy  it  is  as  important  to  know  what  ob- 
jects have  this  ratio  to  each  other  as  to  know  the  ratio. 
The  first  thing  to  be  made  clear  is  the  group  of  objects 
that  are  to  be  compared  together.  It  is  so  easy  for  the 
teacher  to  connect  object  and  number  in  the  same  con- 
cept that  he  takes  it  for  granted  the  child  will  make  the 
connection,  and  he  allows  the  child  to  talk  about  the 
numbers  without  reference  to  the  objects  they  ought  to 
represent,  when  they  actually  stand  in  the  mind  only  for 
the  figures  in  the  book  or  on  the  board.  This  neglect  to 
require  clear  conceptions  of  the  things  that  are  related  to- 
gether is  the  occasion  of  more  uncertainty  and  stumbling 
than  any  other  fault  in  teaching  this  subject.  Perception, 
recollection,  and  imagination  should  be  called  into  exer- 
cise quite  as  much  as  the  reasoning  faculty. 

Fourthly. — This  Law  of  Sequence  should  be  observed 
in  the  study  of  language.  The  use  of  language  is  learned 
by  imitation,  but,  to  have  it  mean  any  thing,  it  must  be 
associated  with  objects  and  actions.  The  natural  order  is 
the  conception  of  a  thing  first,  and  then  its  representative 
word.  But  we  should  also  remember  the  Law  that  con- 
sciousness develops  from  the  obscure  to  the  clear  by  de- 
grees, and  need  not  always  wait  for  the  complete  concept 
of  an  object  before  giving  its  name.  It  is  most  natural  for 
the  mind  to  unify  its  discriminations  in  connection  with  a 
representative  term,  and  the  important  thing  to  be  insisted 
on  is,  that  the  term  and  object  should  be  associated  to- 


LAW    OF    SEQUENCE    APPLIED.  1 75 

gether  in  the  concept.  One  rule  for  the  study  of  Gram- 
mar must  suffice  for  this  point.  Let  the  faets  of  language 
underlie  every  definition  and  7'ule,  and  every  step  in  parsing 
and  analysis. 

Fifthly. — In  the  study  of  History,  personal  character, 
personal  adventures,  and  action  in  general  appeal  to  the 
imagination  and  excite  the  mind  to  activity  more  easily 
than  a  description  of  countries,  laws,  and  customs.  Bio- 
graphical sketches  and  historical  anecdotes  should  prepare 
the  way  for  a  more  connected  history  of  any  people.  In 
order  to  make  the  philosophical  study  of  history  profitable 
to  any  considerable  extent,  a  student  should  first  have  the 
mind  well  stored  with  facts  as  data  for  the  exercise  of  the 
reason.  A  philosophical  theory  is  an  excellent  guide,  but 
is  worth  nothing  without  a  knowledge  of  facts  to  be  ex- 
plained. 

Sixthly. — In  the  study  of  nature,  things  should  precede 
theory  and  science.  It  is  of  little  use  to  take  up  the 
science  of  Botany  or  of  Zoology  if  there  has  not  been  pre- 
vious observation  of  plants  and  animals. 

(II.)  If  a  statement  or  demonstration  is  not  understood, 
it  is  not  sufficient  to  explain  the  elements  that  are  found  to 
be  obscure.  These  must  be  made  clear  and  then  unified 
in  the  statement  of  demonstration.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
common  mistakes  for  a  teacher  to  suppose  the  look  of  in- 
telligence that  comes  over  a  pupil's  face  when  some  inci- 
dental explanation  is  made,  is  an  indication  that  the  whole 
object  of  the  explanation  is  understood.  The  elements 
should  be  made  clear,  and  then  the  whole  by  means  of 
them.  It  is  not  the  easiest  way  to  learn  the  road  from  A 
to  B  to  pass  back  from  B  to  A,  although  all  the  objects 
between  may  be  observed,  for  they  are  seen  from  the 
wrong  point  of  view.  Much  less  can  the  mind  be  in- 
structed to  follow   a  course  of  thought  or  argument  by 


176  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

being  led  back  from  the  end  to  the  beginning,  for  the  way 
is  all  darkness  till  the  beginning  is  reached. 

Law  hi. — The  Mind  Develops  from  the  Simple 
TO  the  Complex. 

First  Proof. — A  complex  thought  requires  several  activ- 
ities in  connection,  and  the  mind  may  have  power  to  hold 
a  few  discriminations  together  in  unity  when  it  can  not 
hold  a  large  number  of  them  in  consciousness  at  the  same 
time. 

Second  Proof. — When  we  have  repeatedly  unified  the 
elements  of  a  complex  thought  it  becomes  easier,  and 
finally  takes  its  place  in  the  mind  as  a  fixed  unity. 

Third  Proof. — By  cultivating  the  power  of  attention, 
the  mind  gains  strength  to  hold  together  a  greater  variety 
of  differences  for  unification. 

Observations. 

(I.)  In  considering  this  subject  it  must  not  be  supposed 
that  the  absolutely  simple  is  to  be  made  the  basis  of  unifi- 
cation. By  the  simple  is  meant  that  whicK  is  simple  to 
the  understanding, — that  which  is  easily  grasped  as  a  whole. 
The  elements  of  an  ideal  analysis  are  not  the  elements  to 
begin  with.  A  child  never  learns  to  talk  by  first  learning 
to  make  what  we  call  the  elementary  sounds.  It  tries  to 
pronounce  words  as  a  whole. 

(II.)  There  is  great  difference  in  the  power  of  different 
men  to  hold  clearly  the  elements  of  a  complex  thought. 
Some  persons  are  able  to  seize  the  conclusion  of  an  argu- 
ment without  being  able  to  go  over  it  step  by  step,  while 
others  not  only  see  the  conclusion,  but  the  process  by 
which  it  is  reached.     The  ability  of  the  first  class  of  per- 


SIMPLE   AND    COMPLEX.  177 

sons  must  be  recognized.  The  value  of  their  practical 
judgment  in  the  world's  affairs  is  great,  especially  in  times 
of  great  emergency.  But  it  is  an  endowment  not  to  be 
cultivated  directly.  It  is  a  power  to  discover  true  unities 
without  spending  energy  in  the  effort  to  make  exhaustive 
discriminations.  Most  persons  are  able  to  give  the  rea- 
sons for  their  conclusions  if  they  are  worth  any  thing,  and 
the  Law  of  growth  by  discrimination  and  unification  re- 
quires that  the  judgment  should  be  based  on  an  apprecia- 
tion of  the  elements  of  thought. 

(III.)  The  difference  in  the  ability  of  children  is  more 
marked  in  reference  to  the  power  of  advancing  in  complex 
thought  than  in  their  understanding  of  simple  truths.  Dull 
pupils  should  be  taken  over  the  complex  slowly  and  with 
much  repetition. 

Law  IV. — The  Order  of  Development  is  the  Same 
IN  Individuals,   in  Nations,  and  in  the  Race. 

First  Proof. — The  progressive  use  of  the  mental  facul- 
ties made  by  nations  and  the  race  indicates  an  advance- 
ment corresponding  to  the  order  of  dependence  in  the 
individual.  The  organs  of  sense  seem  capable  of  little 
progressive  development,  but  it  is  probable  that  finer 
distinctions  of  sound  and  color  are  made  now  than  in  the 
childhood  of  the  race,  as  a  child's  powers  of  perception 
may  be  cultivated.  Music  and  painting  were  cultivated 
by  the  ancients,  but  it  is  almost  certain  that  they  were 
coarser  than  in  modern  times,  as  the  war-songs  and  the 
war-paint  of  the  savage  are  more  rude  than  Italian  art. 
The  imagination  is  given  freer  play  in  early  than  in  later 
development.  Song  and  story  belong  to  childhood  and 
early  history.  There  is  also  a  correspondence  in  the  de- 
velopment of  complex  reasoning.     Take,  for  instance,  the 


178  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

growth  of  civilization  in  Greece.  The  Greeks  as  a  people 
passed  through  an  intuitive,  an  imaginative,  and  a  philo- 
sophical stage,  and  came  to  the  very  confines  of  a  scien- 
tific era.  They  did  all  that  could  be  done  with  science 
treated  deductively.  What  is  further  to  be  noted  is  that 
they  went  through  these  stages  in  the  order  named,  which 
is  the  order  of  dependence,  the  observed  order  in  the  de- 
velopment of  childhood,  and  the  order  of  progress  in  the 
race.  When  Greece  declined,  the  genius  of  the  race 
made  one  more  effort  under  Roman  civilization,  and  added 
to  its  acquisitions  the  triumph  of  law,  the  basis  of  science 
as  well  as  order,  and  then  slept,  awaiting  patiently  a  gen- 
eral awakening,  till  the  night  of  the  Dark  Ages  passed 
away.  The  tastes  of  childhood  are  the  tastes  of  infant 
nations,  and  the  morals  of  childhood  are  the  morals  of 
antiquity.  The  child's  submission  to  authority  corresponds 
to  imperial  government  in  the  beginnings  of  national  life, 
and  the  self-control  of  manhood,  with  the  domination  of  a 
rational  will,  finds  its  counterpart  in  the  civilized  govern- 
ments of  modern  times. 

Second  Proof. — There  are  some  reasons  in  the  nature  of 
things  for  the  Law  given.  In  the  case  of  a  child  there  is 
the  dependence  of  one  form  of  activity  upon  another  which 
determines  the  order  of  development.  In  the  develop- 
ment of  the  race  and  of  national  life  we  may  see  some- 
thing of  the  same  dependence.  When  America  was  first 
discovered  by  Europeans,  the  world  was  not  prepared  to 
take  advantage  of  the  discovery,  and  soon  lost  all  knowl- 
edge of  the  discoverers  and  their  achievement.  But  when 
Columbus  came  to  this  country,  men  were  sufficiently  en- 
lightened to  appreciate  the  value  of  the  discovery,  and  the 
skill  of  men  was  sufficiently  developed  to  enable  them  to 
make  the  attempts  at  colonization  {iuccessful.  If  Colum- 
bus had  not  succeeded,  the  world  was  ripe  for  the  enter- 


SEQUENCE    IN    HISTORY.  1 79 

prise,  and  the  Western  continent  would  not  have  remained 
long  unknown.  This  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  shortly 
after  the  discovery  a  vessel  engaged  in  trade  on  a  differ- 
ent course  was  driven  by  the  winds  to  South  America,  and 
the  officers  had  the  intelHgence,  skill,  and  equipment  to 
return  to  their  home  where  a  report  of  their  adventures 
would  soon  have  brought  others  to  the  newly-discovered 
continent.  The  Copernican  Theory  of  the  Solar  System 
did  not  originate  with  Copernicus,  but  it  was  suggested  by 
Pythagoras  nearly  two  thousand  years  before  Copernicus 
was  born.  But  there  was  not  sufficient  advancement  in 
knowledge  to  prove  the  theory,  and  it  was  disregarded. 
We  may  see  a  substantial  reason  for  the  development  of 
the  deductive  method  of  argument  before  the  inductive. 
Induction  is  more  difficult  than  deduction,  because  it  re- 
quires us  to  hold  in  mind  a  larger  number  of  particulars 
at  the  same  time  for  comparison,  and  men  took  the  easier 
course  by  deduction  until  they  were  compelled  to  seek  for 
a  more  satisfactory  method  of  discovery.  These  illustra- 
tions are  sufficient  to  show  a  dependence  in  the  order  of 
development  in  nations  and  in  the  race  as  a  whole,  and 
the  comparisons  of  the  First  Proof  show  that  the  order  is 
the  same  as  in  the  individual. 

Observations. 

(I.)  In  the  study  of  history  we  ought  to  remember  that 
it  is  as  unjust  to  apply  to  the  earliest  races  of  men  and  to 
nations  in  their  infancy  the  same  standards  as  are  now  ap- 
plied to  civilized  nations,  as  it  is  to  apply  the  standard  of  a 
man's  conduct  to  that  of  a  boy. 

(II.)  We  may  find  much  in  the  history  of  civilization  to 
aid  in  the  discovery  of  the  order  and  methods  of  individ- 
ual development.     This  principle  applies  to  the  develop- 


i8o 


THE    SCIENCE    OF   EDUCATION. 


ment  of  the  feelings  and  the  will,  the  same  as  to  the  cog- 
nitions ;  and  in  the  education  of  children  it  is  highly  use- 
ful to  study  the  early  forms  of  civilization,  and  follow 
this  order  of  nature  both  in  the  sequence  of  truths  im- 
parted, and  in  methods  of  instruction. 

(III.)  While  the  order  and  successive  stages  of  progress 
are  fixed  in  nature,  it  is  not  necessary  for  each  individual 
and  each  generation  to  make  the  same  experiments  and 
failures.  If  it  were  so,  there  could  be  no  progress.  Each 
generation  gives  to  its  successor  the  results  of  its  experi- 
ence, the  grounds  of  its  beliefs,  and  the  methods  of  its 
successes.  These  results  can  be  made  useful  in  lighten- 
ing the  work  of  one  generation  after  another,  and  will 
make  shorter  paths  to  the  same  ends  without  changing  the 
order  of  thought  and  activity.  It  is  not  necessary  for  any 
generation  to  make  the  mistakes  of  its  predecessor. 


•  ltl<««.^^<.V/4■'«»- 


rif®c<Si5^7§s;s^©©, 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


ATTENTION. 


HE  first  command  in  every  military  drill 
is,  Company,  attention.  It  is  given  first, 
and  it  emphasizes  every  subsequent  com- 
mand. The  same  command,  sometimes 
an  imperative  duty,  sometimes  a  silent 
persuasion,  sometimes  a  fear  or  hope,  precedes  every 
evolution  of  thought.  Rosenkranz  says  in  his  Pedagog- 
ics, "The  conception  of  attention  is  the  most  important 
to  Pedagogics  of  all  those  derived  from  Psychology." 
Dr.  Carpenter  in  his  Mental  Physiology  says,  ''The  ac- 
quirement of  this  power,  which  is  within  the  reach  of 
every  one,  should  be  the  primary  object  of  all  mental  dis- 
cipHne."  Tate  says  in  his  Philosophy  of  Education, '' So 
much  depends  upon  the  faculty  of  attention  that  its  out- 
lines should  form  a  leading  subject  of  practical  educa- 
tion." Sir  Isaac  Newton  attributes  his  success  in  scien- 
tific discovery  to  the  power  of  prolonged  attention. 
Others  call  attention  the  essential  element  in  genius. 
Such  expressions  show  the  importance  attached  to  the 
power  of  attention.  In  this  respect  there  is  no  difference 
of  opinion.  But  when  we  ask  what  attention  is,  the  an- 
swers are  various.  Without  attempting,  however,  to 
discuss  the  different  answers  given,  let  us  examine  the  act 
itself,  and  try  to  gain  a  view  of  it  that  may  be  made  the 
foundation  for  a  truthful  and  consistent  treatment  of  its 
place   in   the    process    of  mental  development.     All  are 

(181) 


1 82  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

agreed  that  it  involves  the  concentration  of  active  mental 
energy.  We  say  of  one  whose  mind  is  divided  amongst 
several  subjects  that  he  does  not  give  attention  to  any 
one  of  them.  But  we  also  say  of  a  listless  child  that  he 
does  not  give  attention.  It  is  not  necessary  to  know 
whether  his  mind  is  on  something  besides  the  subject 
presented  or  not;  if  he  does  not  actively  consider  this 
subject  he  is  not  attending  to  it.  To  be  attentive  the 
mind  must  be  active.  But  is  activity  attention,  or  only  a 
condition  of  attention?  We  can  not  turn  activities  upon 
a  subject  unless  there  are  activities.  These  must  be  stim- 
ulated first,  to  secure  attention,  whether  the  word  is  used 
to  designate  the  activities,  or  only  to  denote  a  concen- 
tration of  them  upon  one  object. 

2.  A  speaker  has  the  attention  of  his  audience  when  he 
has  aroused  their  interest,  and  they  think  only  of  what 
he  is  saying.  Is  this  called  attention  solely  because  a 
good  degree  of  activity  is  aroused,  or  is  it  because  we 
know  that,  in  addition  to  this,  every  hearer  must  have 
many  distracting  suggestions  come  into  the  mind,  which 
are  all  put  aside  to  listen  to  the  speaker  ?  One  activity 
may  be  so  great  as  to  absorb  all  the  energy  we  possess 
and  leave  other  activities  without  support.  This  is  called 
involuntary  or  non-voluntary  attention.  But  in  this  sense 
the  word  can  scarc.ely  be  distinguished  from  discrimi- 
nation and  unification,  and  it  has  been  treated  of  suffi- 
ciently, though  not  by  name,  under  the  Laws  of  these  two 
subjects  and  of  native  energy. 

3.  But  there  is  another  form  of  attention,  distinct  from 
this.  According  to  the  principle  of  correlation  activities 
stimulated  in  different  directions  may  be  turned  in 
other  directions  and  thus  concentrated  upon  one  object. 
It  is  this  power  of  directing  or  concentrating  stimulated 
energy  that  needs  separate  treatment.     It  is  the  concen- 


NATURE    OF    ATTENTION.  1 83 

tration  of  the  activities  of  the  mind  by  the  power  of  the 
will. 

4.  The  first  Law  of  sequence  places  the  development 
of  voluntary  attention  after  cognition  and  feeling.  There 
must  first  be  a  cognition,  this  must  excite  a  feeling,  and 
the  feeling  produce  a  desire,  which  leads  to  a  voluntary 
turning  of  the  energies  of  the  mind  upon  the  object  first 
exciting  the  activity  of  cognition.  This  increases  the 
activities  as  they  are  again  excited  in  their  order,  and 
they  are  again  and  again  excited  until  the  mind  is  clear 
in  its  understanding,  and  has  done  all  it  desires  to  do 
with  the  thought  conceived.  The  teacher  will  see  from 
this  that,  to  gain  attention,  the  intellectual  powers  must 
be  appealed  to  by  something  that  will  excite  thought. 
The  emotions  may  be  appealed  to,  and  all  the  mental 
energy  may  be  spent  on  them  as  non-voluntary  attention 
without  exciting  the  cognitions  to  any  considerable  extent; 
but  if  the  self-directing  energy  of  the  mind  is  to  be  stirred, 
some  form  of  interesting  thought  must  be  presented. 

5.  The  teacher  will  further  see,  that,  if  he  would  econo- 
mize his  resources,  he  must  avail  himself  of  opportunities  to 
gain  the  attention  when  he  will  have  least  to  oppose  in 
the  form  of  other  distracting  things.  The  time  when  a 
class  is  most  ready  to  give  its  attention  is  at  the  begin- 
ning of  a  recitation.  The  teacher  should  be  prepared  to 
seize  upon  this  most  favorable  moment,  and  fix  the  atten- 
tion at  once  upon  some  thought  worthy  to  occupy  the 
time,  and  then  follow  this  by  another  and  another,  and 
not  let  the  attention  wander  till  the  recitation  is  finished. 
When  the  attention  flags  from  weariness,  more  of  the 
emotional  element  in  the  way  of  something  pleasing  may 
be  resorted  to,  care  being  always  exercised  not  to  lead 
the  mind  too  far  away  from  the  subject.  Sometimes  it 
may  be  necessary  to  call  back  the  attention  from  wander- 


184  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

ing  by  something  very  striking,  even  if  it  is  not  con- 
nected with  the  lesson,  until  the  minds  of  all  are  brought 
into  a  condition  subject  to  the  teacher's  will. 

6.  Sir  William  Hamilton  illustrates  his  conception  of 
attention  by  comparing  it  to  a  telescope,  the  parts  of 
which  are  drawn  to  focusing  distance  from  each  other, 
and  the  telescope  is  turned  to  any  particular  point  to  be 
observed.  First,  one  point  in  a  field  is  thus  examined, 
then  another,  and  so  on,  until  the  whole  field  has  been 
thoroughly  explored.  Recalling  this  illustration  of  the 
telescope,  attention  may  be  defined  as  the  act  of  focusing 
the  mind  on  a  limited  field  of  vision  until  every  part  is 
distinctly  seen  in  its  true  relations  to  the  whole  field. 
Psychologically  distinguished  from  abstraction,  attention 
is  its  complement.  By  abstraction  the  mental  energy  is 
checked  in  its  flow  in  a  given  direction,  and  by  attention 
the  energies  are  continued  in  activity  and  turned  unitedly 
in  the  direction  determined  upon  by  the  mind. 

Law  I. — Attention  Accompanies  the  Activity  of 
Emotion. 

First  Proof. — The  experiences  of  life  in  proof  of  this 
Law  are  too  common  to  need  more  than  a  reference.  A 
painful  sensation  at  once  unites  all  the  energies  of  the 
mind  upon  the  task  of  finding  out  the  cause  of  pain  or 
the  means  of  relieving  it.  The  effect  begins  in  a  reflex 
action,  but  there  springs  up  immediately  an  intense  and 
prolonged  voluntary  effort  to  distinguish  the  cause  and 
find  relief.  Pleasurable  sensations  act  in  a  similar  man- 
ner to  prolong  the  cause  of  pleasure. 

Second  Proof. — Sensations  of  pleasure  and  pain,  by  being 
prolonged  in  consciousness,  have  the  double  effect  of 
holding  the   attention  on  one  object  and  of  accumulating 


ATTENTION    FOLLOWS   EMOTION.  1 85 

energy  by  the  re-enforcement  of  new  impulses.  The  atten- 
tion is  not  only  more  constant  but  it  is  more  intense ;  the 
mind  is  more  energetic  when  we  take  pleasure  in  listen- 
ing to  an  address  than  when  the  feelings  are  indifferent. 
The  reader  or  speaker  who  has  a  pleasant  voice,  a  com- 
manding presence,  and  graceful  manners,  keeps  the  atten- 
tion much  more  easily  than  one  who  has  not  these  ad- 
vantages, and  an  ordinary  listener  will  receive  greater 
benefit  from  such  a  speaker  because  it  is  easier  to  follow 
him  with  attention. 

Observations. 

(I.)  Prof.  Bain  says,  ''All  the  great  teachers  from  Soc- 
rates downwards,  seem  to  recognize  the  necessity  of 
putting  the  learner  into  a  state  of  pain  to  begin  with;  a 
fact  that  we  are  by  no  means  to  exult  over,  although  we 
may  have  to  admit  the  stern  truth  that  is  in  it."  This 
places  pain  as  the  first  and  lowest  means  used  to  arouse 
and  fix  the  attention.  The  growth  of  infant  conscious- 
ness teaches  the  same  truth.  The  first  breath  is  drawn 
with  an  infant  cry,  and  many  are  the  evidences  of  pain 
before  the  first  manifestation  of  pleasure.  The  first  ap- 
pearance of  distinct  recognition  a  child  shows  is  a  man- 
ifestation of  wonder,  a  feeling  allied  to  pain  rather  than 
pleasure  in  its  origin.  As  pain  is  the  lowest  stimulus  to 
be  used,  other  stimuli  take  its  place  as  the  mind  de- 
velops; but  so  also,  as  the  will  degenerates  and  becomes 
degraded  by  indulging  the  passions,  pain  again  is  the  last 
resort.  It  is  the  resort  when  all  other  stimuli  have  lost 
their  effect.  Let  it  be  accepted,  then,  that  pain  is  a  legit- 
imate stimulus  of  attention  to  compel  the  energies  of  the 
mind  to  turn  toward  a  particular  truth;  but  it  is  not  to 
be  used  when  other  means  are  equally  effective  to  secure 
the  result. 

S.  E.— 16. 


1 86  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

(II.)  The  stimulus  of  pleasure  accompanies  every 
healthy  activity  of  mind  or  body.  It  is  a  stimulus  that  is 
always  present  with  successful  effort.  The  following  is  a 
common  experience.  A  boy  has  been  studying  Algebra 
for  a  year  but  says  he  does  not  like  it,  and  never  did. 
An  examination  shows  he  does  not  understand  the  sub- 
ject. Under  more  favorable  circumstances  he  is  induced 
to  try  the  study  again,  and  as  he  begins  to  master  some 
of  its  principles  he  becomes  interested,  and  redoubles  his 
energy.  Liking  for  the  subject  and  an  understanding  of 
it  advance  with  equal  pace. 

(III.)  The  pleasure  and  pain  which  nature  has  coupled 
with  exercise  and  conduct  are  the  most  wholesome  stimuli 
to  be  found.  The  natural  consequences  of  failure  are  the 
sense  of  disgrace  and  the  loss  of  the  advantages  hoped 
for  from  success.  The  teacher  should  make  failure  ap- 
parent without  discouraging  the  pupil.  The  natural  effects 
consequent  upon  learning,  are,  ist,  the  pleasure  of  exer- 
cising the  mind  in  the  contemplation  of  truth,  and  zd,  the 
use  made  of  the  knowledge  acquired.  The  first,  or  the 
pleasure  of  knowing,  is  developed  in  the  highest  degree 
when  the  consciousness  of  knowledge  is  most  intense,  and 
this  is  when  a  pupil  puts  his  knowledge  in  a  form  for 
others.  A  recitation  so  made  that  a  person  ignorant  of 
the  truth  presented  should  be  caused  to  understand  it,  is 
an  exercise  of  the  mind  affording  this  pleasure.  The 
teacher  should  in  this  way  make  success  as  well  as  failure 
apparent.  But  the  pleasure  that  comes  from  the  use  of 
knowledge,  either  in  acquiring  other  knowledge  or  in 
bringing  something  to  pass,  should  also  be  sought.  '1  he 
mind  is  stimulated  in  a  given  direction  by  a  consciousness 
of  its  power  to  act  in  that  direction  more  perhaps  than  by 
any  other  one  thing.  The  power  to  use  knowledge  gives 
this  consciousness. 


STIMULUS    OF    PLEASURE    AND    PAIN.  1 87 

If  pleasure  and  pain,  other  than  those  which  naturally 
follow  conduct,  are  to  be  employed,  they  should  be  con- 
formed to  the  order  of  nature  as  far  as  possible,  but 
adapted  to  the  intelligence  of  the  child  rather  than  the 
absolute  character  of  the  conduct.  Sometimes  the  imme- 
diate consequence  of  conduct  is  pleasurable  and  the  re- 
mote consequences  painful,  or  the  reverse.  Before  the 
child  can  appreciate  remote  consequences  it  may  be  neces- 
sary to  employ  other  motives  than  natural  consequences  to 
regulate  conduct.  Sometimes  an  extra  motive  of  pleas- 
ure, like  sweet-meats,  may  be  judiciously  set  before  a 
child,  and  sometimes  a  teacher  should  interfere  between 
conduct  and  its  natural  consequences  to  prevent  painful 
effects.  If  a  child  has  disobeyed  and  played  in  the  water 
he  should  not  be  allowed  to  remain  in  damp  clothing  and 
take  cold  because  this  is  the  natural  consequence  of  his 
conduct.  Sometimes  authority,  or  even  physical  force 
should  be  used  to  prevent  conduct  that  would  in  the  end 
bring  pain  too  late  to  be  effective  in  preventing  evils  that 
are  permanent.  A  child  five  years  old  once  begged  his 
mother  for  something  to  eat  which  she  assured  him 
would  be  harmful.  After  a  good  deal  of  resistance  the 
child  was  indulged,  and  allowed  to  learn  the  lesson  of 
experience.  When  suffering  from  the  effects  of  the  indul- 
gence he  was  reminded  of  the  previous  warning,  but  he 
completely  turned  the  moral  of  the  lesson  by  teUing  his 
mother  that  she  was  older  than  he,  and  knew  what  the 
consequences  of  the  indulgence  would  be,  and  ought  not 
to  have  indulged  him.  By  this  he  showed  that  the  firm 
exercise  of  authority  in  such  a  case  would  have  met  the 
approval  of  his  highest  nature,  however  much  it  might 
have  crossed  his  immediate  will. 

(IV.)  Curiosity,  or  the  desire  to  know,  is  so  important 
as  to  deserve  a  separate  consideration. 


1 88  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

(i.)  It  is  in  its  origin  and  nature  quite  distinct  from  the 
element  of  pleasure  connected  with  the  activity  of  knowl- 
edge. It  precedes  the  activity,  and  is  entirely  out  of 
proportion  to  any  sensation  of  pleasure  that  may  be  ex- 
pected. The  progress  of  knowledge  is  from  the  lower 
faculties  to  the  higher,  and  curiosity  is  a  feeling  of  dissat- 
isfaction with  the  exercise  of  the  lower  faculties,  and  a 
struggling  of  the  mind  to  organize  the  lower  activities 
under  the  higher.  The  mind  is  not  content  with  the  uni- 
ties of  perception,  and  seeks  the  higher  unities  of  reason. 
Curiosity  is  formulated  in  such  questions  as  why  ?  what  ? 
how?  which  ask  for  a  cause.  It  is  strong  in  children, 
though  volatile,  and  has  always  been  a  chief  reliance  in 
seeking  to  secure  the  concentration  of  their  attention  and 
the  effort  to  learn.  A  rule  universally  given  is,  "First, 
rouse  the  curiosity  of  children."  Prof  Bain  says,  "Every 
teacher  knows,  or  should  know,  the  little  arts  of  giving  a 
touch  of  wonder  and  mystery  to  a  fact  before  giving  the 
explanation." 

(2.)  Curiosity  may  become  too  great,  it  may  be  idle,  it 
may  be  misdirected.  It  is  too  great  when  it  leads  to  the 
expenditure  of  prolonged  effort  on  inquiries  that  can  not 
be  answered.  It  is  idle  when  it  degenerates  into  a  mere 
love  of  excitement.  The  mind  is  too  indolent  to  respond 
to  the  stimulus  presented  for  the  exercise  of  the  higher 
faculties,  and  satisfies  itself  with  repeated  exercises  of  the 
lower  faculties,  and  makes  no  progress  in  development. 
It  is  misguided  and  marks  an  ill-balanced  mind,  when  it 
is  expended  on  trivial  or  corrupting  thoughts  that  do  not 
return  valuable  knowledge  in  proportion  to  the  energy 
put  forth. 

(3.)  Curiosity  is  naturally  a  lazy  habit  of  mind,  as  is 
shown  by  a  disposition  to  ask  information  from  others 
rather  than  to  study  it  out,  by  being  often  satisfied  with 


CURIOSITY.  189 

the  semblance  of  knowledge  rather  than  to  search  for  the 
truth,  and  by  manifestations  of  indifference  to  the  things 
learned  when  information  has  been  given. 

(4.)  The  methods  of  treating  inquisitiveness  are  vari- 
ous, even  opposed  to  each  other,  but  if  the  above  state- 
ments are  true  we  have  a  basis  on  which  to  build.  We 
should  settle  it  first  of  all  that  curiosity  is  an  important 
element  in  a  child's  character  that  may  be  used  for  good 
purposes.  To  refuse  to  recognize  it,  to  manifest  impa- 
tience toward  it,  to  seek  to  eliminate  it,  is  unjust,  injuri- 
ous, and  cruel.  On  the  other  hand  the  natural  tendency 
to  indolence  and  degeneracy  may  be  increased  by  answer- 
ing all  the  questions  asked  in  the  easiest  and  m.ost  direct 
way.  This  saves  the  necessity  for  activity  on  the  part  of 
the  questioner.  It  should  be  the  rule  to  use  the  curiosity 
of  children  to  lead  them  on  to  find  out  things  for  them- 
selves. A  little  girl  of  a  sweet  temper  had  excited  the 
interest  of  her  little  friends  in  some  of  her  profound  ob- 
servations, and  when  told  one  day  that  one  of  her  play- 
mates wanted  her  to  tell  her  about  the  things  she  knew, 
she  said,  "I  can  not  talk  to  her;  why  does  she  not  think 
them  out  for  herself?  this  is  the  way  I  had  to  do." 
Children  should  be  led  in  every  way  to  think  out  things 
for  themselves.  By  means  of  curiosity  we  may  arouse 
and  direct  the  attention,  and  the  truth  should  then  be 
presented  in  such  a  way  as  to  maintain  interest  till  the 
higher  faculties  have  been  fully  called  into  activity. 

(5.)  There  are  other  means  of  exciting  the  attention 
through  the  feelings  besides  those  dwelt  upon  above, 
chief  amongst  which  are  hope  and  fear.  Fear  may  direct 
attention,  and  by  the  exercise  of  the  will  excite  activity; 
but  it  is  paralyzing  in  its  general  effects,  as  will  be  seen 
when  this  emotion  is  considered  in  itself,  and  should  not 
be  used  except  to  prevent   action   or   stimulate  the  will 


190  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

directly.  But  hope  is  a  vitalizing  stimulus  and  may  al- 
ways be  safely  employed.  When  every  other  human  bless- 
ing had  escaped,  one  by  one,  from  Epimetheus's  casket. 
Pandora  closed  the  lid  and  held  hope  for  mortal  comfort 
still.  When  no  other  motive  for  exertion  can  be  found 
we  may  stimulate  the  most  indifferent  by  hope. 

(V.)  It  is  evident  that  pleasure  is  designed  to  be  the 
most  universal  incentive  to  attention.  But  the  pleasure 
that  comes  from  knowledge  is  sometimes  late  in  coming, 
and  other  stimuli  must  be  resorted  to  in  order  to  induce 
the  first  efforts  of  learning.  Tate  divides  inattentive  boys 
into  five  classes.  For  the  intellectually  feeble  he  would 
use  patience  in  adapting  work  to  their  capacity.  To  the 
sluggish  temperament  he  would  apply  powerful  stimulants, 
and  vary  them  until  he  should  hit  upon  one  that  proved 
effective.  The  volatile  boy  he  would  study  until  he  found 
some  one  thing  more  pleasing  than  other  things,  and  culti- 
vate the  attention  by  the  use  of  this  stimulus  until  a  habit 
of  attention  should  be  formed.  The  timid  boy  he  would 
seek  to  encourage  and  persuade.  To  the  quick  boy,  who 
grasps  a  point  with  ease  and  then  turns  his  thoughts  away 
from  the  lesson  in  hand,  he  would  give  the  difficult  ques- 
tions and  all  the  work  he  could  do.  He  would  thus  stim- 
ulate differently  different  classes  of  minds. 

Law  II. — Attention  is  Stimulated  by  Rational 
Motives. 

First  Proof. — A  rational  motive  excites  a  desire  to  gain 
a  certain  end,  and  this  desire  directs  the  energies  of  the 
mind  to  the  means  of  obtaining  the  desired  purpose. 

Second  Proof. — The  legitimate  tendency  of  a  rational 
motive  is  to  maintain  a  concentration  of  mental  energy 
until  the  purpose  is  obtained. 


attention  directed  by  reason.  i9i 

Observations. 

(I.)  The  feelings  act  upon  the  attention  in  two  ways. 
They  are  activities  that  may  be  easily  turned  in  the  direc- 
tion of  a  desired  object  of  thought,  and  they  act  upon  the 
will  to  concentrate  the  energy  aroused.  But  rational  mo- 
tives act  only  on  the  will.  The  pleasure  a  child  takes  in 
listening  to  a  story  arouses  that  kind  of  activity  that  may 
be  used  in  understanding  the  story,  and  the  will  has  little 
difficulty  in  directing  the  energy  excited  even  if  it  comes 
into  play  at  all.  But  such  a  desire  as  that  to  know  the 
multiplication  table  must  create  the  activity  by  voluntary 
effort.  The  rational  desire  of  learning  a  language  does 
not  develop  any  of  those  activities  by  which  a  language  is 
learned.  To  talk  about  the  advantages  of  knowledge  may 
act  as  a  stimulus  to  the  will,  but  it  does  not  excite  the 
discriminations  and  unifications  required  to  know.  To  the 
desire  for  knowledge  must  be  added  the  means  appropriate 
for  exciting  those  activities  that  constitute  knowledge.  To 
appeal  continually  to  motives  for  study  and  right  conduct 
without  directing  the  study  or  enforcing  the  conduct,  is 
what  is  called  preaching  in  school,  and  is  to  be  avoided. 
Almost  all  pupils  like  good  order,  but  to  secure  it  requires 
a  method  and  the  enforcement  of  a  system.  If  good  order 
is  maintained,  the  desire  for  order  may  be  relied  upon  to 
secure  individual  co-operation;  but  if  it  is  not  maintained, 
however  much  the  necessity  for  it  may  be  urged,  no  one 
will  heed  the  admonitions  given.  It  requires  less  energy 
to  keep  good  order,  if  a  teacher  has  a  fairly  good  method 
and  maintains  it  with  decision,  than  is  wasted  on  the  dis- 
order of  a  poorly  governed  school. 

(II.)  Rational  motives  are  permanent  in  their  influence, 
and  increase  in  effectiveness  by  use  and  time.     Themis- 


192  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

tocles,  almost  first  among  the  ancient  Greeks,  was  an  idle 
and  dissipated  boy.  After  the  battle  of  Marathon  he  was 
so  changed  as  to  excite  the  wonder  of  all  who  knew  him, 
and  when  asked  for  the  cause  of  this  strangely-sudden 
reformation  he  replied,  ''The  trophy  of  Miltiades  does 
not  suffer  me  to  sleep  or  be  quiet." 

Law  hi. — The  Development  of  the  Power  of 
Attention  is  Directly  as  the  Strength  of  Rational 
Motive,  and  Inversely  as  the  Degree  of  Feeling 
Habitually  Exercised. 

First  Proof. — Since  attention  is  an  exercise  of  the  will 
on  which  motives  act  directly,  the  power  of  attention 
grows  as  motives  increase  in  their  power  over  the  will. 
But  the  feelings  require  less  voluntary  effort  in  directing 
the  attention,  and  as  we  become  accustomed  to  follow 
these  without  the  exercise  of  the  rational  will,  we  lose 
power  to  control  attention. 

Second  Proof. — Experience  shows  that  a  person  who  has 
the  habit  of  setting  himself  to  do  certain  things  in  view  of 
rational  motives,  strengthens  his  power  of  concentration 
of  energy  in  that  direction,  while  the  person  who  acts  from 
feeling  loses  his  power  of  self-control. 

Third  Proof. — Extreme  pain,  joy,  or  excitement  prevents 
distinct  thought  even  to  the  extent  of  exhausting  the  mind 
of  all  the  energy  of  which  it  is  capable.  Sir  William  Hamil- 
ton lays  it  down  as  a  law  that  perception  (the  intellectual 
side)  and  sensation  are  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  each  other. 

Observations. 

(I.)  The  antagonism  between  a  rational  control  of  the 
activities  and  feeling  is  seen  in  the  insensibility  to  pain 


RATIONAL    MOTIVES    AND    FEELING.  1 93 

which  is  often  manifested  when  one  is  intensely  interested 
in  the  pursuit  of  some  object.  General  Grant  says  in  his 
Memoirs  that  after  suffering  all  night  with  severe  head- 
ache, and  trying  in  vain  to  get  relief  by  the  use  of  such 
remedies  as  he  considered  most  efficacious,,  the  informa- 
tion that  General  Lee  desired  to  see  him  to  consider  terms 
of  surrender  removed  immediately  every  trace  of  pain. 
There  is  no  doubt  but  the  exercise  of  a  strong  will  con- 
serves the  forces  of  nature  for  intellectual  work  and 
healthy  bodily  activity,  which  would  degenerate  into  un- 
productive feeling  or  physical  disability,  unless  controlled 
by  the  will.  Physicians  have  learned  to  make  use  of  the 
will-power  of  their  patients ;  children  should  cultivate  the 
habit  of  using  it  for  themselves. 

(II.)  Excitement  is  unassimilated  mental  activity.  That 
degree  of  it  which  is  recognized  as  excitement  is  the  re- 
sult of  many  various  activities  that  can  not  be  assimi- 
lated with  established  mental  growths.  No  one  act  of 
tyranny  ever  led  to  mob  violence.  A  person  may  brood 
over  one  thought  till  he  becomes  deranged,  but  he  does 
not  thus  become  excited.  This  happens  only  when  many 
things  disturb  the  mind,  one  thought  succeeding  another 
rapidly  without  that  restoration  of  equilibrium  that  comes 
from  satisfactory  unification.  The  activities  may  result  in 
mere  nervous  irritation  and  be  dissipated,  or  they  may  be 
combined  under  some  violent  determination  of  the  will, 
and  spend  themselves  in  an  outburst  of  passion.  When 
excitement  is  produced  by  some  impending  calamity  or 
great  fear,  it  will  be  found  that  the  calamity  or  fear  is 
made  to  assume  many  forms  through  uncertainty,  and 
the  mind  is  at  first  bewildered,  and  then,  either  all  the  en- 
ergies excited  are  turned  in  the  direction  of  one  form  of 
action  by  a  sudden  impulse  ;  or  else,  if  there  is  no  control- 
ling motive,  the  energies  are  lost  and  the  mind    is  left 

S.  E.-17. 


194  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

powerless.  Excitement  should  be  avoided  both  for  the 
sake  of  conserving  energy  and  of  avoiding  irrational  action. 
(III.)  Great  crises  are  apt  to  be  times  of  great  excite- 
ment, and  it  is  important  to  know  how  it  can  be  con- 
trolled. If  the  view  stated  above  concerning  the  nature 
of  this  activity  be  correct,  its  control  must  be  by  one  of 
two  methods.  First,  we  may  obstruct  activity  and  pre- 
vent the  combination  of  the  forces  on  any  one  end  until 
they  are  dissipated;  or  secondly,  we  may  determine  the 
will  in  favor  of  some  desirable  end.  The  one  method 
dissipates,  the  other  conserves  energy.  The  first  method 
is  followed  when  some  counteracting  hope  or  fear  is  pre- 
sented that  has  a  greater  influence  in  controlling  the  mind 
than  any  of  the  forces  in  action;  and  the  second,  when 
some  line  of  conduct  is  skillfully  presented  that  will  har- 
monize enough  of  the  controlling  motives  to  determine 
the  will.  The  awakening  of  trust  or  fear  by  the  presence 
of  one  whom  men  have  been  accustomed  to  obey  is  one 
of  the  most  powerful  of  restraints.  Virgil  says  Neptune 
so  silenced  the  tumult  of  the  sea  by  his  presence. 

"As  when  sedition  oft  has  stirred 
In  some  great  town  the  vulgar  herd; 
And  brands  and  stones  already  fly — 
For  rage  has  weapons  always  nigh — 
Then  should  some  man  of  worth  appear 
Whose  stainless  virtues  all  revere, 
They  hush,  they  list:  his  clear  voice  rules 
Their  rebel  wills,  their  anger  cools." 

— ConingtofCs   Trans. 

By  appealing  to  a  sentiment  even  more  deeply  rooted, 
General  Garfield  staid  the  madness  of  a  surging  throng 
in  New  York  city  after  the  assassination  of  President 
Lincoln.     When  their  rage  was  at  its  highest  pitch,  and 


CONTROL   OF    EXCITEMENT.  1 95 

manifestly  beyond  all  other  control,  he  rose  and  simply 
repeated  some  passages  from  the  book  of  Psalms,  and 
added,  *'  Fellow-citizens!  God  reigns,  and  the  government 
at  Washington  still  lives."  At  these  words  ten  thousand 
infuriated  men,  already  breaking  away  from  the  larger 
crowd  and  moving  off  with  purposes  of  vengeance,  stopped 
and  listened,  and  their  wild  tumult  settled  down  into  an 
all-pervading  calm. 

An  illustration  of  the  second  method  is  found  in  the 
skill  with  which  Mark  Antony  swayed  the  Roman  popu- 
lace at  Caesar's  funeral  by  seeming  partly  to  yield  to  one, 
and  then  to  another,  of  the  many  conflicting  sentiments 
that  possessed  the  throng,  until  he  found  an  appeal  by 
which  he  could  gain  them  all  and  make  them  do  his  bid- 
ding.    Like  Hiawatha, 

"Though  they  bend  him,  they  obey  him; 
Though  they  lead  him,  yet  they  follow." 

(IV.)  This  study  of  the  character  of  excitement  and  the 
methods  of  its  control  is  especially  worthy  the  teacher's 
consideration.  In  the  first  place,  little  excitements  in  the 
school-room  distract  attention  and  dissipate  energy,  and 
should  be  subdued  or  turned  to  good  account.  In  the 
second  place,  excitement  is  the  same  in  its  nature  with  all 
discriminations,  which  are  the  beginnings  of  every  activity, 
and  the  method  of  directing  the  one  is  the  method  of 
growth  from  the  other.  In  the  one  case  those  master-sen- 
timents of  human  nature,  which  are  able  to  bring  all  activi- 
ties under  the  control  of  a  rational  will,  should  be  developed 
and  appealed  to;  in  the  other  case,  the  leading  truths,  with 
which  other  truths  may  be  naturally  and  rightly  identified 
as  parts,  should  be  first  and  thoroughly  established.  Most 
judgments  are  formed  in  view  of  conflicting  opinions, 
whereas  facts,  seen  in  their  true  light,  should  never  lead 


196  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

to  conflicting  thoughts.  The  problem  of  advanced  edu- 
cation is  the  problem  of  eliminating  this  conflict  of  thoughts. 
The  man  whose  mind  naturally  grasps  the  important  with 
a  consciousness  of  its  true  importance,  and  at  once  rele- 
gates the  obtrusive  unimportant  to  its  proper  place,  is  a 
master  in  his  sphere.  The  teacher  who  has  this  ability 
in  his  profession  has  the  elements  of  success;  and  he  who 
so  develops  the  minds  of  his  pupils  that  their  thoughts 
are  marshalled  in  this  order,  displays  a  skill  which  is 
nothing  short  of  genius. 

(V.)  While  a  certain  degree  of  excitement  is  necessary 
for  progress,  the  great  problems  of  life  have  been  brought 
into  the  clearest  intellectual  light  in  quiet  retirement. 
Brilliant  gleams  of  truth  may  shoot  across  the  mind  when 
it  is  roused  to  a  high  pitch  of  varied  activity,  but  the 
steady  attention  required  for  consecutive  thinking  can  be 
maintained  only  when  the  feelings  are  comparatively 
quiescent,  and  all  the  forces  of  the  mind  are  under  con- 
trol of  the  rational  will. 

(VI.)  Rational  will  implies  a  class  of  motives  that  are 
permanent  in  their  influence.  Amongst  such  may  be 
named  the  love  of  approbation,  ambition,  emulation,  and 
prizes  of  whatever  sort.  A  motive  of  this  class,  later  in 
coming  to  maturity,  but  nobler  and  more  constant  and 
enduring  than  those  mentioned,  is  a  sense  of  responsibility. 
Lord  Erskine,  when  a  young  barrister,  objected  to  the 
ruling  of  a  judge  of  high  repute  upon  the  bench,  and  set 
forth  his  views  with  such  eloquent  earnestness  and  force  as 
both  to  command  the  admiration  of  his  hearers  and  secure 
a  reversal  of  the  decision.  When  his  friends  expressed 
their  astonishment  at  his  audacity  in  attacking  the  opinion 
of  such  a  judge  he  replied,  *'  I  felt  my  children  pull  at  my 
coat-tails,  crying,  'Now,  father,  now  is  the  time  to  get  us 
bread.'" 


THE    MOTIVE    OF    RESPONSIBILITY.  1 97 

A  sense  of  responsibility  is  sometimes  forced  prema- 
turely, but  a  more  frequent  mistake  is  to  allow  youth  to 
pass  away  as  if  life  were  only  a  holiday.  If  injury  or 
wrong  results  from  waywardness,  parent  or  other  mistaken 
friend  will  assume  all  the  responsibility,  repay  the  damage, 
and  shield  the  wrong-doer  from  harm.  It  is  a  most  fruit- 
ful cause  of  breaches  of  trust,  that  great  interests  are 
placed  in  the  hands  of  inexperienced  young  men, — too 
young  to  have  a  matured  sense  of  responsibility,  and 
who,  besides,  have  not  had  this  feeling  developed  even 
as  it  might  have  been, — and  when  temptation  comes, 
they  are  not  prepared  to  meet  it.  They  are  not  fully 
aware  of  the  criminality  of  their  conduct  till  they  see  its 
disastrous  results,  and  instead  of  learning  the  lesson  in  a 
school  designed  for  instruction,  they  are  taught  it  by  a  law 
that  demands  only  punishment.  The  beginnings  of  a 
sense  of  responsibility  may  be  found  in  the  very  young, 
and  it  may  be  appealed  to  as  the  surest  way  to  secure 
good  order  and  fidelity. 

(VII.)  The  object  a  teacher  should  have  in  view  in 
preparing  a  lesson  is  to  direct  the  attention  of  his  class  to 
the  points  that  ought  to  be  made  clear.  A  hint  as  to  the 
best  order  may  be  of  use.  The  first  discrimination  to 
attract  attention  is  contrast,  since  the  attention  is  most 
easily  aroused  by  truth  presented  in  this  form.  The  an- 
tithesis of  Macaulay,  and  the  unlooked-for  turns  of  thought 
of  Emerson  are  the  most  striking  and  attractive  features 
of  their  style.  First,  then,  let  a  subject  be  isolated  by 
contrast.  Next  to  contrast  is  variety.  The  thought  should 
be  developed  by  repeated  discriminations  that  belong  to 
the  unity,  and  made  to  take  more  distinct  form  in  the 
mind.  Illustrations  differing  from  each  other  in  minor 
points,  different  characteristics,  and  different  applications 
of  truth,  come  under  this  head.     Finally,  there  should  be 


198 


THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 


such  a  classification  of  the  points  as  to  bring  all  into  one 
view  in  their  proper  relations.  If  one  will  examine  the 
parables  of  the  New  Testament  he  will  find  these  three 
features  more  or  less  prominent  in  nearly  all  of  them; 
and  they  particularly  abound  in  strong  contrasts,  as  was 
most  necessary  in  the  beginnings  of  Christian  instruction. 
By  universal  consent,  these  parables  deserve  study  as 
models  of  the  best  form  of  instruction.  The  parable  of  the 
sower,  for  instance,  contrasts  productive  with  unproductive 
labor.  Of  the  unproductive  sowing,  some  seed  fell  by  the 
way-side,  some  on  stony  ground,  and  some  among  thorns. 
Of  the  productive  labor,  some  seed  yielded  thirty,  some 
sixty,  and  some  an  hundred.  Thus,  the  main  thought  is 
presented  by  way  of  contrast,  and  each  of  the  two  mem- 
bers has  a  three-fold  variety.  The  points  here  made  nat- 
urally fall  in  their  proper  places  from  the  order  of  narra- 
tion. 


r^@:C'G»^^^S)^Xg5, 


CHAPTER   IX. 


EXERCISE. 


T  may  be  seen  in  a  general  way  in  each 
of  the  preceding  Laws  that  the  powers  of 
the  mind  are  developed  by  exercise.  In 
no  other  way  can  they  be  known;  and  it 
is  a  fact  of  such  common  observation  that 
the  use  of  the  faculties  strengthens  them,  that  formal 
proof  does  not  seem  necessary.  The  proof  is  incidentally 
found  in  the  proof  of  each  one  of  the  Laws  given,  for  it 
is  the  exercise  of  mental  power  in  some  particular  way  in 
each  case  that  the  development  treated  of  is  secured. 

2.  Whether  mental  energy  is  increased,  or  the  brain 
modified,  or  both  these  results  are  produced  are  questions 
that  may  be  asked,  but  they  are  not  easily  answered;  and 
they  are  not  important  in  discussing  the  influence  of  ex- 
ercise in  developing  the  mental  powers.  A  power  is 
judged  by  what  it  can  do,  and  we  are  never  able  to  trace 
the  cause  of  efficiency  through  every  phase  and  moment 
of  activity.  We  know  that  care  of  the  body  and  exercise 
of  mental  power  are  both  necessary  to  healthy  mental 
growth,  but,  however  interesting  it  might  be  to  know 
whence  comes  the  mental  power,  and  what  is  the  exact 
nature  of  the  physical  changes  corresponding  to  activity 
of  mind,  the  laws  showing  the  relation  of  exercise  to  growth 
may  be  clearly  seen  without  this  knowledge. 

3.  The  development  of  the  body  by  exercise  and  nour- 
ishment manifests  itself  in  three  classes  of  changes.     There 

(199) 


200  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

is  an  increase  or  enlargement  of  tissues;  a  strengthening, 
hardening,  or  toughening  of  tissues;  and  an  increase  of 
dexterity  or  faciUty  of  action.  The  development  of  the 
mind  shows  a  similar  three-fold  change.  Growth  of  the 
mind  by  an  increase  in  the  number  of  different  forms  of 
activity  of  which  it  is  capable  is  called  breadth  of  mind. 
Strength  of  mind  is  the  power  to  hold  a  thought  before 
the  mind  in  complete  consciousness, — that  is,  clearly,  dis- 
tinctly, and  with  positive  affirmation — in  all  its  variety  of 
contents  and  relations.  Mental  dexterity  or  skill  is  man- 
ifest in  the  production  of  activities  with  a  small  amount 
of  stimulus  and  a  small  expenditure  of  energy.  These 
forms  of  development  take  place  in  accordance  with 
different  laws  of  exercise. 

Law  I. — Mental  Breadth  is  Produced  by  Exercise 
ON  as  Great  a  Variety  of  Forms,  and  by  Expending 
AS  Little  Energy  on  Each,  as  is  Consistent  with  Ac- 
curacy OF  Knowledge. 

First  Proof. — In  so  far  as  mental  growth  depends  upon 
the  body,  the  Law  is  easily  proven.  In  the  growth  of 
physical  organisms  nature  has  provided  that  the  tissues 
shall  be  worn  away  by  exercise,  and,  so  long  as  vitality 
is  not  exhausted,  a  supply  of  nourishment  shall  not  only 
renew  the  tissue  thus  worn  away,  but  increase  it.  It  is 
probable  that  brain  cells  are  thus  multiplied  by  the  exer- 
cise that  comes  with  thinking.  If  there  is  too  little 
exercise  growths  will  be  imperfect;  if  too  much,  vitality 
will  be  exhausted  and  the  tissues  worn  away  will  not  be 
fully  replaced;  if  it  is  too  limited  in  variety,  the  mind 
will  be  narrow. 

Second  Proof. — The  mind  must  be  exercised  on  a  dis- 
crimination till  it  is  clearly  unified  with   other  activities, 


MENTAL    BREADTH.  20I 

when  it  becomes  a  permanent  form;  but  the  energy  ex- 
pended on  a  form  beyond  what  is  required  to  make  it 
permanent  is  so  much  exhausted  from  what  might  be 
used  by  estabhshing  other  forms  and  giving  greater 
breadth. 

Observations. 

(I.)  This  Law  is  important  in  itself,  as  we  would  avoid 
narrowness  of  intelligence  and  capability.  The  greater 
the  variety  of  forms  of  activity  the  greater  will  be  the 
susceptibiHty  to  different  forms  of  stimulus,  and  the  mind 
will  be  the  better  prepared  to  seize  upon  chance  oppor- 
tunities for  information  or  gaining  other  advantage.  Many 
things  are  taught  which  seem  to  the  young  to  have  no 
bearing  on  life's  work,  and  it  is  quite  the  custom  to  sneer 
at  such  things  as  only  good  for  mental  discipline.  But 
we  can  never  know  beforehand  what  use  may  be  made 
of  a  piece  of  knowledge.  The  application  of  the  truths 
we  learn  is  much  broader  than  the  facts  from  which  we 
learn  them,  and  how  much  broader  we  shall  never  know. 
We  are  continually  finding  unexpected  uses  for  our 
knowledge,  and  sometimes  the  most  important  help  comes 
from  sources  least  considered.  A  boy  that  has  grown  up 
the  terror  of  the  community  may,  by  his  very  temerity,  be 
the  salvation  of  the  community  in  an  emergency  of  fire 
or  flood,  in  riot  or  in  war.  As  few  men  can  be  spared  to 
a  community  without  some  loss,  so  there  are  few  truths 
which  we  may  know  that  do  not  have  practical  value 
sometimes. 

(II.)  The  Law  is  seen  to  be  still  further  important  when 
taken  in  connection  with  the  Laws  of  correlation.  The 
greater  the  variety  of  activities  the  greater  will  be  the 
energy  that  may  be  concentrated  upon  a  single  object. 

(III.)  When  we  take  the  Law  in  connection  with   the 


202  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

Laws  of  sequence  we  shall  see  its  importance  in  securing 
a  variety  of  fundamental  truths,  from  which  one  is  taken 
here  and  another  there  for  the  development  of  more  ad- 
vanced thoughts.  When  the  child  has  advanced  to  that 
period  of  life  at  which  he  takes  up  a  science,  he  can  not 
afford  .to  go  back  and  learn  by  experience  every  fact  he 
needs  to  use.  These  should  be  mostly  learned  at  an  earlier 
age,  and  with  those  needed  for  the  science  many  more  will 
be  learned  of  necessity. 

Law  IL — Strength  is  Gained  by  the  Greatest 
Amount  of  Exercise  Consistent  with  Perfect  Recu- 
peration. 

First  Proof. — As  in  the  case  of  the  preceding  Law  the 
application  to  the  increase  of  physical  strength  is  easy. 
Tissues  that  are  worn  away  are  replaced  by  other  material 
of  finer  and  firmer  character  with  every  change  that 
comes  from  healthy  action,  and  the  brain  cells  are  con- 
nected together  by  new  filaments  making  it  possible  to 
bring  a  larger  amount  of  nerve  force  for  the  exercise  of 
any  one  thought,  and  to  sustain  a  single  thought  longer 
without  fatigue. 

Second  Proof. — In  the  unification  of  several  thoughts 
exercise  gives  the  mind  power  to  grasp  and  hold  under 
control  of  the  will  unities  containing  more  and  more  dif- 
ferences, and  thus  take  a  more  comprehensive  view  of 
truth. 

Observations. 

(L  )  In  order  to  strengthen  a  muscle  it  must  be  severely 
exercised  in  every  fiber.  This  requires  the  adaptation  of 
exercise  to  the  muscle.  By  such  exercise  the  arm  of  the 
blacksmith,  the  limbs  of  the  athlete,  and  the  fingers  of  the 


MENTAL   STRENGTH    AND    SKILL.  203 

pianist,  develop  a  strength  hardly  supposed  possible  by 
one  who  has  never  witnessed  such  changes.  By  adapta- 
tion of  exercises  the  weak  little  finger  may  be  made  to 
give  as  firm  a  touch  as  any  finger  of  the  hand.  The  fac- 
ulties of  the  mind  may  be  improved  in  a  similar  way. 
Memory,  judgment,  and  the  will  are  at  least  as  suscepti- 
ble to  improvement  as  the  little  finger.  Fitting  exercises 
should  be  given  to  each  faculty. 

(II.)  The  exercise  required  to  develop  strength  is  se- 
vere exercise.  It  should  involve  the  largest  number  of 
discriminations  which  the  mind  can  hold  under  unity  with 
distinctness.  Exercises  which  require  little  effort  do  not 
strengthen  the  mind.  They  may  increase  activity,  but 
severe  exercise  alone  calls  out  strength  and  builds  up 
character. 

Law  III. — Skill  is  Gained  by  a  Repetition  of  the 
Same  Exercise  or  set  of  Exercises  with  the  Least 
Variation. 

First  Proof. — When  a  physical  action  is  repeated  a 
habit  is  formed,  and  the  action  can  be  performed  each  time 
with  less  eftbrt  than  before.  This  is  not  only  physical  skill, 
it  is  also  mental.  It  may  be  that  the  nerve  connections 
are  shortened  or  made  to  conduct  the  nervous  energy  with 
less  waste.  But,  whatever  the  cause,  the  mind  gains  an 
easier  control  of  muscular  activity  by  a  repetition  of  the 
same  act.  If  the  act  were  repeated  each  time  with  differ- 
ences the  energy  would  be  divided  and  the  attention  dis- 
turbed, and  development  of  skill  would  be  slow. 

Second  Proof. — Skill  or  facility,  in  purely  mental  oper- 
ations, as  in  adding  figures,  is  produced  in  the  same  way, 
by  a  repetition  of  the  same  processes.  The  same  is  true 
of  each  of  the  mental  faculties. 


204 


THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

Observations. 


(I.)  If  one  desires  skill  in  a  particular  thing  the  limits 
of  variety  should  be  determined,  and  the  activities  should 
include  this  variety,  and  one  order  should  be  maintained 
in  every  repetition  of  the  exercise. 

(II.)  Division  of  labor  is  favorable  to  the  cultivation 
of  skill  in  workmanship,  and  the  confining  of  the  atten- 
tion to  a  limited  range  of  thought  is  conducive  to  skill 
in  mental  operations. 

(III.)  Breadth,  strength,  and  skill  are,  in  some  degree, 
inconsistent  with  each  other.  To  secure  the  highest 
degree  of  one  is  inconsistent  with  the  highest  perfection 
of  the  others.  We  may  see  this  in  the  results  of  a  great 
division  of  labor.  Skill  is  acquired  for  one  thing,  but 
devotion  to  this  exhausts  the  energy  that  might  otherwise 
have  developed  broad  views  and  a  strong  character.  A 
versatile  man  is  not  likely  to  be  a  ])rofound  thinker,  nor 
skillful  in  any  one  thing.  There  should  be  an  effort  to 
keep  a  fair  balance  in  respect  to  these  three  results  of  ex- 
ercise. Circumstances  may  determine  that  one  of  them 
should  be  sought  more  than  the  others,  but  in  any  case 
strength  should  not  be  sacrificed.  This  is  a  medium  be- 
tween the  other  two,  and  it  is  never  wanting  in  the  best 
class  of  minds. 


r/gf@:C'^5r^^vS)^>®, 


CHAPTER  X. 


LIMITATIONS. 


jT  is  common  to  speak  of  the  mind  as 
unlimited  in  its  power.  It  may  be  that  it 
is  capable  of  endless  progress ;  but  this  does 
not  imply  that  its  attainments  will  not  al- 
ways be  finite.  If  the  steps  of  a  journey 
were  infinitesimal,  and  the  time  for  each  one  finite,  it 
would  require  infinite  time  to  complete  the  journey,  limited 
though  it  might  be.  The  steps  the  mind  makes  in  the 
comprehension  of  truth  are  infinitesimal  when  compared 
with  the  whole  of  truth,  and  a  comparatively  long  time  is 
required  for  each  step.  But  life  is  short,  and  the  oppor- 
tunities of  any  one  individual  to  learn  the  truth  are  few, 
so  that  we  are  shut  in  within  a  very  narrow  limit  of  possi- 
bilities. The  Hmitations  resulting  from  the  dependence  of 
the  mind  upon  the  body  have  been  sufficiently  treated  of 
under  Physiological  Relations,  and  those  discussions  do 
not  need  to  be  repeated  here. 

Law  I. — The  Mind  is  Limited  by  a  Limitation  in 
THE  Number  of  its  Faculties. 

Fi7'st  Proof. — The  sense  of  sight  is  adapted  to  distin- 
guish vibrations  of  a  certain  character  and  degree  of 
rapidity.  The  ear  discovers  other  kinds  of  vibrations. 
Other  kinds,  still,  manifest  themselves  as  electricity.  But 
we  know  there  are  other  kinds  of  vibrations,  as  the  chem- 

(205) 


206  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

ical  rays  of  light,  that  do  not  manifest  themselves  directly 
to  any  of  the  senses.  If  we  had  a  sense  to  perceive  chem- 
ical vibrations,  it  would,  perhaps,  add  to  our  powers  of 
knowledge  as  much  as  the  sense  of  sight  adds  to  the  knowl- 
edge gained  by  the  four  other  senses. 

Second  Proof. — All  our  knowledge  depends,  primarily, 
upon  the  senses  and  self-consciousness.  As  knowledge  is 
seen  to  be  limited  in  respect  to  sense-perceptions,  so  also 
it  is  limited  as  to  self-consciousness.  The  consciousness 
of  pleasure  and  pain  is  limited,  and  the  power  of  will  is 
limited  by  the  limitations  of  the  cognitions  and  feelings. 
We  can  not  analyze  our  thoughts  and  perceptions  so  as  to 
know  ultimate  elements  and  intermediate  forms  of  causa- 
ation.  A  fire  burns  and  heat  is  felt,  but  what  the  force 
is  that  we  call  heat  is  a  mystery.  However  far  the  mind 
may  go  in  classifying  the  knowledge  of  one  thing  with 
other  forms  of  knowledge,  the  ultimate  nature  of  things 
eludes  our  grasp. 

Observations. 

(I.)  It  is  not  a  reasonable  ground  for  distrusting  the 
validity  of  knowledge  because  we  do  not  know  things  in 
their  ultimate  nature.  If  we  saw  an  image  and  supposed 
we  saw  an  object  instead,  it  would  not  be  rational  to  say 
we  did  not  see  any  thing  when  we  found  out  our  mistake. 
We  may  be  mistaken  in  inferring  that  what  we  have  seen 
may  also  be  touched,  but  to  be  convinced  of  this  mistake 
should  not  bring  discredit  on  our  consciousness  of  sight. 
If  we  had  never  seen  a  painting  and  were  placed  in  a  gal- 
lery whose  sides  were  covered  with  mirrors,  each  one 
facing  us  and  reflecting  for  us  a  hidden  painting,  we  might 
walk  through  the  gallery  and  study  those  images  as  though 
they  were  the  real  paintings.     We  might  develop  a  love 


RELIABILITY    OF    KNOWLEDGE.  207 

for  the  beautiful,  a  sense  of  the  harmony  of  colors,  of  fit- 
ness and  proportion  of  parts,  and  a  capacity  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  art,  the  same  as  though  we  saw  the  canvas  itself 
and  the  artist  before  it,  with  pallet  and  brush,  actually  at 
work  at  his  task.  It  makes  no  difference  with  the  reality 
of  the  images  that  their  cause  is  out  of  sight.  When  the 
mind  awakens  to  a  consciousness  of  objects  external  to 
itself,  it  affirms  their  existence  with  a  certainty  that  never 
falters,  although  the  mode  of  manifestation  is  changeable. 
The  affirmation  of  existence  is  clear,  positive,  and  con- 
stant, though  the  conception  of  the  form  and  character  of 
that  which  exists  may  be  obscure,  uncertain,  and  variable. 
There  are,  moreover,  five  witnesses  for  us  to  the  same 
thing.  We  become  conscious  of  existence  through  each 
of  the  five  senses  in  ways  entirely  independent  of  each 
other.  While  distrusting  the  finality  of  our  knowledge  we 
should  hold  fast  to  its  reality.  Like  the  supposed  images 
in  the  picture  gallery,  nature,  even  as  we  see  it,  is  able  to 
develop  in  us  forms  of  thought,  feeling,  and  character, 
worth  all  the  labor  and  pains  we  may  bestow  upon  it. 

(II.)  As  the  faculties  of  the  mind  are  but  limited  at 
best,  all  should  be  developed  to  the  fullest  extent.  The 
senses,  memory,  imagination,  reasoning,  feeling,  and  voli- 
tion should,  each  in  its  proper  sphere,  be  exercised  and 
made  to  contribute  its  part  towards  a  varied  and  sym- 
metrical whole. 

(III.)  In  consideration  of  a  possible  or  probable  failure 
to  secure  the  full  development  of  each  of  the  faculties,  the 
law  of  compensation  may  afford  a  partial  remedy.  If  the 
imagination  is  weak,  the  reasoning  power  may  be  strong ; 
if  the  reasoning  power  is  weak,  the  perceptive  powers  may 
be  strong;  if  the  power  to  acquire  knowledge  is  limited, 
the  power  to  do,  to  execute,  may  be  greater;  if  sight  is 
lost,  hearing  grows  keener. 


2o8  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

Law  II. — The  Mind  is  Limited  by  a  Limitation  in 
THE  Range  of  Each  One  of  its  Faculties. 

First  Proof. — From  red  to  violet  there  are  seven  colors, 
and  the  variety  of  shades  and  tints  is  unlimited ;  but  our 
ability  to  distinguish  these  differences  is  limited  to  a  small 
number.  In  some  instances  even  the  greater  differences 
between  the  seven  colors  can  not  all  be  distinguished. 
There  is  a  similar  limitation  of  each  of  the  senses.  To 
gain  a  slight  conception  of  the  feebleness  of  our  natural 
powers,  take  again  the  sense  of  sight.  We  look  out  upon 
the  heavens  and  see,  perhaps,  three  or  four  thousand  stars. 
But  the  telescope  reveals  many  thousand  times  this  num- 
ber from  which  the  light  comes  to  the  eye,  and  the  natural 
sight  is  too  feeble  to  distinguish  them.  Beyond  the  reach 
of  the  telescope  there  are,  we  know  not  how  many  thou- 
sand times  as  many  more. 

Second  Proof. — We  are  even  more  limited  in  our  power 
to  hold  clearly  in  consciousness  combinations  of  differ- 
ences. When  differences  are  simplest  and  we  are  only 
trying  to  see  or  conceive  of  objects  as  units,  we  grasp  at 
once  not  more  than  three,  four,  or  five  units  as  distinct 
from  each  other.  If  we  try  to  comprehend  more,  we 
group  them  together,  and  conceive  of  the  groups. 

Observations. 

(I.)  This  limitation  of  the  range  of  our  faculties  should 
ever  make  us  careful  in  making  distinctions  and  identifica- 
tions, and  lead  us  to  moderation  in  the  declaration  of  our 
judgments. 

(II.)  We  may  see  in  the  limitation  of  our  faculties  a 
reason  for  classification  and  for  formulating  laws.  The 
man  who  manages  a  large  business  must  have  it  organized 


FACULTIES   AND    OPPORTUNITIES   LIMITED.  209 

SO  that  each  department  shall  be  managed  with  minute 
accuracy ;  and  because  he  can  not  give  his  personal  atten- 
tion to  every  item  of  detail,  he  must  have  a  head  for  each 
department  whom  he  may  hold  responsible.  In  the  same 
way,  if  we  master  complex  results  in  any  department  of 
thought,  the  details  of  knowledge  must  be  classified,  and 
our  knowledge  of  classes  as  wholes  must  be  held  respon- 
sible to  consciousness  for  the  accuracy  of  particulars. 
Each  class  must  be  studied  in  detail  that  combined  results 
may  be  relied  upon  with  safety.  The  sailor  and  the  sur- 
veyor may  rely  on  the  conclusions  of  Geometry,  for  the 
details  have  all  been  investigated  with  care.  Other  sciences 
should  do  the  same  thing  for  other  enterprises. 

Law  III. — The  Mind  is  Limited  in  its  Power  by 
THE  Limitation  of  Opportunities  to  Develop. 

First  Proof. — An  appeal  to  the  shortness  of  life  is  a  suf- 
ficient proof  of  this  Law  when  we  consider  that  every  stage 
of  progress  requires  time.  But  the  limitation  of  time 
means  more  than  this.  The  Law  of  the  dependence  of  the 
faculties,  one  upon  another,  reduces  the  time  for  the  de- 
velopment of  any  one  faculty  in  its  order  to  a  fraction  of 
an  ordinary  Hfe-time.  There  are  but  a  few  years  in  which 
either  memory  or  imagination  may  be  successfully  devel- 
oped. If  this  period,  in  either  case,  passes  unimproved, 
nothing  can  ever  compensate  for  the  loss. 

Second  Proof. — The  means  for  improvement  are  limited. 
Many  persons  can  not  give  the  time  required  on  account 
of  the  demands  upon  them  to  work  for  their  own  or  for 
others'  support.  Some  have  not  the  means  to  place  them- 
selves where  opportunities  of  study  may  be  had.  Other 
hindrances  obstruct  others  in  their  attempts  at  mental  im- 
provement. 

S.  E.-I8. 


2IO  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 


Observations. 


(I.)  Now  and  then  one,  like  Hugh  Miller,  may  find  in 
the  rocks  he  breaks  in  pieces  for  the  corner-stones  of  a 
palace,  or  for  paving  the  streets,  the  very  stimulus  he  re- 
quires, so  that  the  work  of  productive  industry  and  mental 
development  may  not  stand  in  each  other's  way;  but  in 
the  case  of  most  persons  a  business  must  be  made  of  culti- 
vating the  mental  powers,  or  they  will  remain  undeveloped. 
The  case  alluded  to  is  an  encouragement  to  all  who  thirst 
for  knowledge,  and  have  limited  opportunities  for  getting 
it,  but  most  persons  must  fill  a  different  sphere  from  that 
which  he  filled.  It  is  well  it  is  so,  for  there  is  need  of 
many  men  of  a  different  type  for  every  one  like  him.  The 
steady  progress  of  civilization  requires  many  a  trained 
scholar  to  fill  the  gaps  that  are  left  between  Hugh  Millers. 

(H.)  If  one  has  lost  early  opportunities,  he  should  en- 
deavor to  use  later  advantages  in  a  manner  adapted  to  his 
possibilities  of  development.  One  may  learn  the  science 
of  a  language  late  in  life,  but  the  formative  period  of  mind 
has  passed,  and  it  is  then  much  more  difficult  to  learn  the 
vocabulary,  the  idioms,  and  the  more  scholarly  distinc- 
tions. It  is  almost  impossible  to  develop  a  taste  for  read- 
ing late  in  life. 

(III.)  The  question  is  asked  how  far  the  cultivation  of 
the  faculties  ought  to  be  limited  or  modified  by  the  pur- 
poses of  practical  life.  In  the  first  place,  it  has  been 
shown  that  a  development  of  all  the  powers  is  a  means  of 
strengthening  the  mind  for  any  one  purpose  that  may  be 
had  in  view.  In  the  second  place,  what  are  called  the 
practical  ends  of  life  bear  the  same  relation  to  mental  de- 
velopment, including  knowledge,  feehng,  and  will,  as  soil 
bears  to  fruit.     The  fruit  can  not  be  had  without  the  soil; 


PRACTICAL    AND    HIGHER    AIMS.  211 

the  soil  is  worthless  except  to  raise  fruit.  As  it  would  be 
folly  for  a  man  to  invest  every  thing  in  land  and  nothing 
in  raising  crops,  so  it  is  folly  to  give  all  the  attention  of 
life  to  the  means  of  living,  and  none  to  the  development 
of  life.  The  period  best  adapted  to  this  higher  end,  the 
development  of  life's  nobler  forces,  is  the  time  when  phys- 
ical strength  is  not  equal  to  the  burden  of  gaining  a  liveli- 
hood, and  this  should  be  given  to  mental  development; 
and  as  much  more  should  be  devoted  to  the  same  end  as 
is  consistent  with  other  obligations.  In  the  third  place,  a 
true  education  will  never  raise  one  above  his  proper  sta- 
tion in  life.  The  proper  station  for  every  intelligent  be- 
ing is  the  highest  plane  of  intellectual  and  moral  life  which 
he  is  capable  of  reaching.  The  moral  obligations  of  soci- 
ety should  be  trusted  to  hold  men  in  their  proper  relations 
toward  one  another,  rather  than  ignorance.  An  individ- 
ual's intellectual  and  moral  powers  are  so  much  higher 
than  the  ends  subserved  by  the  ordinary  employments  of 
life,  that  the  Creator  has  made  it  possible  for  one  to  enjoy 
happiness  under  almost  any  conditions  of  physical  dis- 
comfort if  the  mind  be  trained  and  the  moral  purpose 
noble. 


PART  III. 

DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE    SEVERAL    FACULTIES. 


(213) 


CHAPTER  I. 


COGNITIONS. 


classification  of  the  mental  faculties 

has  already  been  given,  and  the  order  of 
their  dependence  and  development  shown. 
Laws  have  also  been  given  for  their  devel- 
opment in  general.      It  is  the   design   of 

this  part  of  the  work  to  treat  of  the  development  of  each 

separately. 

I.  THE  ACQUISITIVE  FACULTY. 

1.  All  our  primary,  or  immediate  knowledge,  is  gained  by 
the  use  of  the  senses  and  self-consciousness,  and  all  other 
knowledge  is  based  on  this.  The  importance  of  the  right 
development  and  use  of  this  faculty  is  thus  seen  to  be 
fundamental. 

2.  First,  let  us  consider  the  development  of  sense- 
perception.  Such  a  perception  is  the  result  of  two  differ- 
ent activities,  the  activity  of  the  senses,  called  a  sensation, 
and  the  activity  of  the  mind  by  which  the  cause  of  the 
sensation  is  identified  with  other  percepts.  We  affirm  the 
existence  of  a  sensation  by  an  act  of  self-consciousness, 
and  we  affirm  the  existence  of  that  which  excites  the  per- 
ception through  the  senses,  and  this  latter  is  perception 
proper.  The  most  important  Laws  to  be  applied  to  the 
development  of  perception  are: 

(i.)  The  first  Law  of  Sequence.  The  perceptive  powers 
are  the  first  mental  powers  to  be  cultivated,  and  the  first 

(215) 


2l6  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

to  come  to  maturity.  Pestalozzi  and  Froebel  developed 
a  large  part  of  all  that  is  characteristic  of  their  sys- 
tems from  the  truth  contained  in  this  Law  in  its  appli- 
cation to  perception,  and  it  seems  to  be  the  common 
judgment  of  educators  that  they  did  not  exaggerate  its 
importance. 

(2.)  The  Laws  of  Exercise.  To  develop  the  senses 
they  must  be  called  into  exercise.  It  does  not  develop 
perception  to  read  and  hear  about  things.  Children  must 
see,  hear,  and  feel  them  for  themselves.  Perception 
should  be  immediately  appealed  to  through  the  senses 
until  conception  is  easy  and  accurate  without  it.  It 
should  be  developed  in  breadth,  strength,  and  skill. 
While  one's  natural  inclination  shown  in  curiosity  must  be 
indulged  to  some  extent,  the  third  Law  of  Exercise  shows 
there  is  danger  of  producing  narrowness.  On  the  other 
hand  the  fourth  Law  of  Discrimination,  taken  in  connec- 
tion with  the  large  amount  of  vitality  natural  to  childhood, 
should  lead  us  to  consider  the  period  of  early  training  as 
the  time  especially  fitted  for  laying  the  foundation  for 
breadth  of  development  by  giving  great  variety. 

(3.)  The  Law  of  the  Progressive  Development  of  Con- 
sciousness applies  to  the  perceptions.  To  the  mature 
mind  perception  seems  almost  instantaneous,  but  the  per- 
ceptions of  the  infant  are  very  slow,  probably  as  slow  as 
the  most  difificult  processes  of  reasoning  later  in  life ;  and 
the  teacher  does  not  always  realize  how  long  it  takes  a 
child  in  his  first  years  of  school  to  gain  a  clear  perception 
of  an  object,  a  picture,  or  a  figure.  There  must  be  time 
for  a  permanent  unification,  or  the  perception  will  not  be 
complete,  and  the  activity  begun  will  degenerate  into  un- 
consciousness. 

(4.)  The  Laws  of  Discrimination  and  Unification  apply 
immediately  to  perception.     It  was  said  to  be  the  special 


LAWS    APPLIED    TO    PERCEPTION.  217 

function  of  the  senses  to  give  discrimination.  Objects  so 
presented  to  the  senses  as  to  stimulate  a  consciousness  of 
differences  are  the  proper  external  causes  of  perception, 
and  the  differences  in  the  objects  presented  should  at  first 
be  strongly  marked  and  always  clearly  distinguishable. 
But  the  mental  perception  is  a  unification.  This  is  an  act 
of  the  mind  itself  which  a  teacher  can  not  help  the  pupil 
perform.  The  teacher  often  says,  you  see  this  or  that, 
and  the  child  says  yes,  when  he  sees  nothing,  or  perhaps 
something  entirely  different  from  the  thing  intended. 
Such  wrong  methods  should  be  carefully  avoided.  Differ- 
ences can  be  presented  in  an  order  that  will  suggest 
proper  comparison  and  unification,  but  some  test  of  the 
actual  completion  of  the  unification  should  be  sought 
besides  a  question  that  can  be  answered  by  yes  or  no. 
Tests  should  be  continued  until  it  is  known  with  cer- 
tainty that  the  unification  of  perception  is  real,  true,  and 
clear. 

3.  The  metaphysical  question  is  raised,  what  is  the 
basis  of  unification  in  perception  ?  The  senses  only  give 
us  qualities  distinct  from  each  other,  as  round,  hard,  and 
cold.  In  what  way  does  the  mind  hold  these  together  in 
any  thing,  as  an  ivory  ball?  Some  have  supposed  an  a 
priori  notion  of  substance  to  which  the  qualities  belong 
as  the  basis  of  unification.  Others  hold  that  we  have  no 
valid  ground  for  supposing  an  underlying  substance,  and 
consider  it  a  suflficient  explanation  to  say  that  we  see  the 
qualities  together  in  time  and  space.  But  we  conceive  of 
no  power  in  time  and  space  to  hold  such  qualities  as  hard- 
ness and  coldness  together,. and  the  demand  for  a  cause 
of  unity,  or  a  basis  of  unification,^  is  not  satisfied  by  such 
an  explanation.  The  General  Law  of  mental  develop- 
ment, however,  is  all  the  account  we  can  give  of  the  at- 
tempt to  unify  the  differences  discriminated  by  the  senses, 

S.  E.— 19. 


2l8  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

and  if  this  is  accepted  as  a  fact  it  is  sufficient  to  explain 
the  attempt.  Perhaps  the  best  thing  that  can  be  said 
about  the  basis  of  unity  in  matter  itself  is  that  it  is  a  cause 
unknown.  Perception  unifies  the  qualities  of  matter  in  a 
bo^y,  but  discrimination  does  not  bring  into  conscious- 
ness a  cause  of  unity.  To  call  it  substance  does  not  re- 
veal it.  It  is  as  well,  perhaps,  to  rest  with  the  assertion 
that  the  mind  does  unify  in  accordance  with  its  natural 
tendency. 

4.  Secondly,  let  us  consider  self-consciousness.  It  is  the 
source  of  our  knowledge  of  our  feelings  and  all  the  activ- 
ities of  our  own  minds.  The  power  does  not  come  to 
maturity  so  early  as  perception,  for  its  use  involves  the 
exercise  of  the  higher  and  more  difficult  faculties.  Its 
discriminations  and  unifications  are,  in  the  main,  the  more 
abstract  forms  of  analysis  and  synthesis.  But  a  child  may 
examine  the  image  or  conception  he  has  of  an  object,  and 
compare  it  with  the  object  itself,  and  thus  develop  his 
notion  into  accuracy  and  clearness  by  the  joint  exercise 
of  self-consciousness  and  perception.  This  is  one  of  the 
first  methods  of  exercising  self-consciousness.  It  is  easiest 
because  it  is  most  easily  referred  to  the  senses.  The 
classification  of  objects  is  made  in  accordance  with  prin- 
ciples conceived  in  the  mind,  and  accuracy  in  this  will 
develop  self-con'sciousness.  From  the  classification  of  ob- 
jects we  can  pass  to  the  more  difficult  examination  of  the 
complex  relations  of  thought,  which  are  made  clear  later 
in  life. 

II.    RETENTION  AND  REPRODUCTION. 

I.  When  physical  forces  are  degraded  into  heat  and 
dissipated  in  space  it  is  not  supposed  the  forces  are  anni- 
hilated. We  must  conceive  of  them  as  existing  in  some 
form  and  somewhere  in  space.     They  have  simply  passed 


RETENTION    AND    REPRODUCTION.  219 

beyond  the  reach  of  useful  work  so  far  as  the  earth  is 
concerned.  In  the  same  way  when  mental  activity  is  de- 
graded, and  force  is  dissipated,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  the  force  is  absolutely  destroyed.  There  is  reason  to 
suppose  that  somewhere  in  the  mind,  and  in  some  form, 
every  activity  still  Hngers,  though  most  of  the  mind's  past 
activities  are  not  only  out  of  consciousness,  but  entirely 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  present  reproductive  faculty.  That 
they  have  a  place  in  the  mind  and  may  have  an  influence 
which  we  do  not  recognize  is  made  conceivable,  if  not 
probable,  by  the  Laws  of  the  development  of  conscious- 
ness from  unconscious  impressions,  and  the  Laws  of  Un- 
conscious Tuition.  We  may  also  conceive  it  possible,  and 
perhaps  probable,  that  every  activity  is  so  unified  with 
other  activities  that  no  one  of  them  is  past  recall  if  the 
right  train  of  thought  were  started  to  lead  to  it.  Two  facts 
are  strong  arguments  in  favor  of  such  a  supposition.  In 
the  first  place,  peculiar  combinations  of  circumstances  will 
sometimes  bring  back  to  recollection  things  that  have  not 
been  in  the  mind  for  many  years,  and  that  seem  as  en- 
tirely beyond  recall  as  any  experience  can  be.  In  the 
second  place,  the  experience  of  drowning  persons  in  re- 
calling the  events  of  their  past  lives,  is  evidence  of  a 
power  of  reproduction  when  all  the  energy  of  the  mind 
is  called  into  activity,  which  is  entirely  beyond  ordinary 
experience. 

2.  But  retention  out  of  consciousness  is  only  known  by 
reproduction,  and  we  must  look  for  the  manifestations  of 
memory  in  this  latter  faculty,  and  draw  our  inferences 
from  its  activities. 

3.  The  Laws  most  appHcable  to  the  development  of  re- 
production are  the  General  Law,  the  second  and  third 
Laws_Qf^.Exerci§e,  the  founb  Law  of  Correlation  and  the 
first  Law  of  Sequence.       I    \ 


220  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

4.  All  reproduction  is  an  effort  of  the  mind  to  com- 
plete in  consciousness  the  unification  of  a  series  of 
thoughts  deposited  in  retention  as  a  unity  of  experience, 
when  one  part  of  the  series  has  been  revived.  This  is  in 
accord  with  the  General  Law  of  Development.  This  uni- 
fication of  thought  in  memory  is  called  association  of 
ideas.  As  no  thought  is  deposited  in  retention  except  as 
it  is  identified  with  some  other  thought,  all  the  thoughts 
and  experiences  of  life  must  be  associated  together,  and 
if  the  bond  of  association  were  strong  enough,  and  men- 
tal and  vital  energy  did  not  become  exhausted,  one  thought 
might  suggest  another,  that  a  third,  and  so  on  till  one's 
entire  experiences  are  brought  in  review  before  him.  But 
the  force  of  association  is  dissipated  by  time,  and  actual 
reproduction  is  thus  made  to  depend  upon  the  strength  of 
the  original  unification,  the  causes  for  a  diminution  of  this 
strength,  and  the  impulse  given  for  the  renewal  of  the  train. 

Under  the  head  of  strength  of  original  unification  we 
may  have  several  Laws. 

Law  I. — Vigor  of  Mind,  Strength  of  Stimulus, 
AND  Attention  Give  Strength  to  Association. 

First  Proof. — Each  of  the  three  causes  named  contrib- 
utes to  make  a  more  perfect  unification  in  consciousness, 
and  the  Law  follows  from  the  relation  of  unification  to 
permanent  forms  of  thought  as  stated  in  the  General  Law. 

Second  Proof. — Whatever  importance  attaches  to  the  re- 
lation of  mind  and  brain  applies  in  favor  of  this  Law.  The 
mind  is  rendered  more  active  in  particular  directions  under 
the  influence  of  these  causes,  and  there  should  be  a  corre- 
sponding development  of  the  brain,  particularly  those  con- 
nections between  the  cells  which,  perhaps,  constitute  the 
physiological  basis  of  association. 


retention  and  reproduction.  221 

Observations. 

(I.)  As  memorizing  taxes  the  mental  and  vital  forces  to 
the  utmost,  the  morning  hours  and  other  times  of  the 
greatest  freshness  and  vigor  should  be  devoted  to  this  *eK- 
ercise. 

(II.)  Those  points  should  be  presented  by  means  of  the 
strongest  stimulus  which  are  most  important  in  themselves, 
and  are  likely  to  suggest  other  points  most  naturally.  If 
an  illustration  is  given  or  a  story  told,  it  should  be  made 
to  bear  upon  an  important  truth.  It  is  not  the  illustration 
or  story  which  is  best  in  itself  that  a  teacher  should  seek  as 
a  good  illustration,  but  one  that  best  illustrates  the  thing 
which  he  is  anxious  to  impress. 

(III.)  In  order  to  commit  to  memory,  the  attention 
should  be  undivided.  This  faculty,  more  perhaps  than 
any  other,  requires  freedom  from  disturbing  influences. 
If  a  variety  of  distracting  thoughts  occupies  the  mind  at 
the  same  time,  not  only  will  the  connections  made  be 
weaker,  but  there  will  be  such  diversity  of  associations  as 
to  lead  to  uncertainty  in  attempting  to  recall  a  particular 
thing. 

Law  II. — Repetition  Adds  Strength  to  Associa- 
tion. 

Proof. — Repetition  deepens  impression,  and  makes  the 
activity  of  reproduction  easier,  as  it  does  other  activities, 
according  to  the  third  Law  of  Exercise.  The  tendency 
of  mental  energy  to  take  accustomed  directions  with  in- 
creasing distinctness  is  seen  in  the  Law  of  progressive  de- 
velopment of  consciousness,  and  this  tendency  is  but  a 
manifestation  of  the  power  of  association. 


222  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 


Observation. 


In  seeking  to  memorize  things  that  have  no  natural  or 
necessary  relations  to  each  other,  such  as  the  names  of 
persons  or  places,  and  those  things  the  relations  of  which 
require  too  much  effort  to  trace  them  out  whenever  re- 
called, as  the  multiplication  table,  repetition  should  be 
mainly  relied  upon.  In  repeating  we  should  follow  the 
requirements  of  the  third  Law  of  Exercise  until  that  which 
is  to  be  learned  is  well  committed,  and  then  vary  the 
order  to  give  greater  strength  to  the  memory.  Interest 
will  be  added  if  some  natural  relation  can  be  shown  be- 
tween the  thoughts  connected,  and  the  mind  will  gain  a 
firmer  hold  upon  them.  If  a  name  is  significant  of  the 
object  designated,  it  gives  interest  to  point  this  out.  In 
the  case  of  the  multiplication  table  the  product  should  be 
so  associated  in  the  mind  with  the  numbers  that  produce 
it  that  the  factors  will  at  once  suggest  it ;  but  the  relations 
of  factors  and  product  will  be  studied  with  more  interest 
if  the  child  makes  up  the  product  himself  by  actual  cal- 
culation. 

Law  III. — A  Rational  Order  Strengthens  Asso- 
ciation. 

First  Proof. — This  is  shown  inductively  by  such  well- 
known  facts  as  that  things  more  naturally  suggest  one  an- 
other if  connected  by  relations  of  contiguity  in  time  or 
space,  of  cause  and  effect,  of  similarity  or  contrast,  and 
so  forth. 

Second  Proof. — The  Law  may  also  be  proved  deductively 
by  the  fact  of  an  increased  number  of  connections  estab- 
lished when  the  mind  identifies  things  with  each  other 


RETENTION    AND    REPRODUCTION.  223 

under  the  necessary  laws  of  thought  in  addition  to  the 
unification  of  a  general  association. 

Observations. 

(I.)  This  is  one  of  the  most  important  laws  of  memory. 
All  thought  should  be  organized  to  give  mental  strength, 
and  truths  committed  to  memory  in  the  order  of  logical 
dependence  have  a  double  value ;  they  are  material  to  be 
used,  and  they  strengthen  the  mind  in  acquiring  them. 
The  parts  of  a  lesson  should  be  taken  up  minutely  in  the 
order  of  their  dependence,  and  when  the  outlines  are  set 
forth  to  be  fixed  in  memory,  the  points  should  be  so  classi- 
fied and  arranged  as  to  call  attention  to  the  natural  rela- 
tions between  the  elements.  The  mind  naturally  asks 
what?  and  why?  of  things,  and  when  two  thoughts  are 
so  related  to  each  other  that  the  expression  of  one  of  them 
answers  these  questions  asked  of  the  other,  association  be- 
tween them  is  easy. 

(II.)  From  the  last  remark  it  will  be  seen  that  the  basis 
of  the  best  order  will  often  depend  upon  the  characteristics 
of  individuals.  Some  more  naturally  ask  one  kind  of 
questions,  and  hold  things  up  in  one  light;  others  view 
them  under  entirely  different  aspects.  One  person  will 
easily  commit  verbatim,  another  is  inclined  only  to  con- 
nect ideas  by  the  principles  they  involve.  In  seeking  to 
cultivate  the  memory  each  should  take  into  consideration 
the  characteristics  of  his  own  mind. 

(III.)  To  secure  a  logical  arrangement  of  facts  to  be 
learned,  careful  and  complete  analysis  is  necessary.  In 
this  form  of  activity  as  well  as  others  the  strength  and 
value  of  unification  depend  upon  discrimination. 

Under  the  head  of  Causes  of  Diminution  of  Strength 
the  Law  of  Degradation,  or  fourth  Law  of  Correlation, 


224  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

applies.     The  special  application  of  this  Law  to  the  mem- 
ory may  be  stated  as  follows : 

Law  IV. — The  Strength  of  Association  is  Weak- 
ened BY  Lapse  of  Time. 

Proof. — This  follows  directly  from  the  fourth  Law  of 
Correlation.  While  the  thoughts  are  out  of  consciousness 
there  is  no  impulse  toward  strengthening  the  association, 
and  the  natural  tendency  to  degradation  in  this  case  must 
be  to  weaken  the  connection,  and  render  it  more  and 
more  difficult  to  restore  the  original  activity. 

Observations. 

(I.)  When  any  thing  is  first  committed  to  memory  we 
do  not  realize  at  what  points  the  connections  are  weakest. 
The  lapse  of  a  comparatively  short  time,  however,  will 
reveal  these  weak  places  if  we  try  to  recall  what  we  have 
learned.  It  is  a  saving  of  time  to  commit  to  memory  and 
allow  a  subject  to  pass  from  the  mind  a  few  hours  and 
then  try  to  recall  it.  If  any  portions  can  not  be  recalled, 
special  energy  may  then  be  fixed  on  those  till  they  are 
learned  with  certainty.  It  is  a  good  habit  to  learn  lessons 
one  day,  and  recall  them  and  (if  necessary)  review  them 
the  next  day. 

(II.)  This  Law  points  to  the  necessity  for  frequent  re- 
views. If  too  long  a  time  passes  between  one  review  or 
repetition  of  a  subject  and  another,  the  connections  will 
be  so  far  weakened  that  it  becomes  like  learning  the  sub- 
ject anew.  This  same  remark  will  also  apply  to  com- 
mitting to  memory  at  first.  Often  a  task  is  difficult,  and 
it  requires  several  efforts  to  fasten  it  in  memory.  One 
effort  should  follow  another  closely  enough  to  build  one 


RETENTION    AND    REPRODUCTION.  225 

product  upon  another,  and  not  lose  the  results  of  the  first 
efforts. 

Under  the  third  head,  namely,  the  stimulus  to  repro- 
duction, besides  the  mental  relations  existing  between  the 
thought  that  excites  activity  and  the  associated  thought 
recalled,  relations  just  treated  of,  there  are  conditions  be- 
longing to  the  time  and  act  of  reproduction  that  aid  it. 

Law  V. — Reproduction  is  in  Proportion  to  Activ- 
ity IN  THE  Direction   of   That  Which   is  Recalled. 

Proof. — This  Law  follows  from  the  second  Law  of  Cor- 
relation. If  an  intense  energy  or  several  activities  act  in 
the  direction  of  an  association  of  something  to  be  recalled, 
the  reproduction  will  more  probably  be  made  than  if  there 
be  but  a  single  activity,  and  the  energy  be  feeble  in  that 
direction. 

Observations. 

(L)  If  the  mind  itself  be  in  a  vigorous  condition  when 
we  try  to  remember  a  thing,  the  probability  of  reproduc- 
tion is  increased.  If  the  mental  powers  are  active,  thought 
will  take  many  directions,  and  we  are  more  likely  to  have 
a  thought  taking  the  direction  of  the  desired  association 
than  if  the  mind  is  languid  and  susceptible  of  but  few 
trains  of  thought ;  and  more  force  is  given  to  the  different 
thoughts  entertained. 

(II.)  Reproduction  is  more  probable  if  the  exciting 
thought  is  clearly  pictured  forth  in  the  mind.  The  exact 
point  of  the  association  may  be  missed  unless  we  hold  up 
the  suggesting  thought  with  the  same  distinctness  as  when 
the  association  was  made. 

(III.)  Reproduction  is  aided  when  several  thoughts 
associated  with  the  same  thing  are  together  brought  before 


226  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

the  mind.  It  is  a  help  to  place  ourselves  as  nearly  as 
possible  in  the  same  circumstances  as  when  the  first  asso- 
ciation was  made. 

(IV.)  The  feelings  aid  in  reproduction.  Thoughts  will 
suggest  each  other  when  we  are  in  a  mood  to  have  the 
same  feelings  that  were  originally  excited.  But  memories 
thus  aroused  are  not  seldom  the  cause  of  a  waste  of 
power,  because  the  indulgence  of  feelings  that  do  not 
ripen  into  action  tend  so  easily  to  degradation,  and  it  is 
in  itself  a  degradation  to  yield  simply  to  pleasurable  rem- 
iniscence instead  of  building  up  and  strengthening  thought 
by  force  of  will. 

(V.)  Reproduction  is  aided  by  the  will.  The  will  di- 
rects the  attention  and  holds  all  the  mental  energy  ready 
for  unification  at  the  right  suggestion,  if  we  have  properly 
trained  the  mind;  and  it  is  only  a  memory  which  is  sub- 
ject to  the  will  that  is  in  the  highest  degree  valuable. 
This  power  of  compelling  attention  in  the  act  of  reproduc- 
tion is  of  the  greatest  importance.  The  teacher  need  not 
be  reminded  of  the  frequency  with  which  pupils  called  up 
to  recite  or  give  a  demonstration  stop  and  sit  down  at  the 
first  failure  of  memory.  They  do  not  exert  a  tithe  of 
their  mental  power.  While  chiding  does  not  help  mem- 
ory, but  is  more  likely  to  distract  thought,  still  pupils 
ought  to  be  held  to  do  their  best  at  recitation  and  in  every 
exercise  of  memory. 

(VI.)  The  first  Law  of  Sequence  has  an  important  bear- 
ing on  the  development  of  memory.  Retention  and  re- 
production follow  immediately  after  Acquisition,  and  in 
accordance  with  the  Law  of  Sequence  should  be  devel- 
oped early  in  childhood.  So  clearly  is  the  Law  applicable 
to  memory  that  we  not  only  find  the  power  developed 
amongst  the  first  of  the  mental  powers,  but  it  is  noticeable 
that  it  is  amongst  the  first  to  decline.     And  it  is  not  only 


RETENTION    AND    REPRODUCTION.  227 

important  that  memory  be  much  exercised  in  childhood 
for  the  sake  of  developing  the  power  itself,  but  it  is  im- 
portant for  the  sake  of  the  faculties  that  depend  upon  it 
for  their  development.  All  the  higher  powers  of  the 
mind  depend  upon  the  products  of  memory,  mainly,  for 
their  growth.  We  should  not  content  ourselves  with 
simply  storing  the  memory;  this  is  stopping  on  a  low 
plane  of  intellectual  life;  but  neither  should  we  try  to  get 
along  without  the  exercise  of  memory,  for  this  is  like  try- 
ing to  build  without  material. 

III.  REPRESENTATION. 

I.  The  faculty  of  representation  is  the  power  by  which 
the  mind  forms  and  holds  before  itself  distinct  notions  of 
individual  objects.  The  notion  formed  is  a  unity  that 
may  be  resolved  into  elements  drawn  from  experience, 
but  the  form  of  the  unity  is  determined  by  the  purpose  in 
view  in  the  exercise  of  this  faculty.  It  may  be  the  purpose 
to  form  an  image  that  shall  exactly  represent  a  particular 
object  of  experience,  as  a  house  we  have  seen ;  an  image 
that  shall  represent  a  class  of  objects,  as  an  ideal  image  of 
a  tree ;  an  image  that  shall  represent  a  rational  notion,  as 
a  circle;  an  image  of  some  new  combination  that  shall 
subserve  some  practical  end,  as  a  machine;  or  an  image 
that  shall  be  pleasing  or  repulsive,  as  the  image  of  a  land- 
scape. In  the  first  case  the  faculty  of  memory  is  called 
to  the  aid  of  imagination,  and  recollection  determines  the 
form  of  the  unity ;  in  the  second  case  the  faculty  of  com- 
parison determines  the  form  of  the  unity ;  in  the  third  case 
it  is  determined  by  the  concepts  of  reason ;  in  the  fourth 
case  it  is  determined  by  the  final  purpose ;  and  in  the  last 
case  it  is  determined  by  the  feelings.  In  the  first  three 
cases  the  image  is  made  to  correspond  to  facts  or  truth  as 


228  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

we  conceive  these  to  exist,  and  the  imagination  has  much 
of  the  reproductive  or  imitative  element  in  it;  in  the  last 
two  cases  imagination  is  constructive  or  inventive,  and  the 
image  varies  with  the  determination  of  the  will. 

2.  By  some,  the  reproductive  imagination  is  limited  in 
its  applications  and  considered  as  the  same  with  the  fac- 
ulty of  reproduction.  If,  however,  we  examine  the  process 
by  which  the  imagination  works,  we  shall  find  it  to  be  the 
same  thing  in  all  the  above  uses,  whatever  the  determining 
purpose  may  be,  and  different  from  the  process  of  simple 
reproduction.  In  the  case  of  reproduction  the  unity  is  a 
series  of  experiences  recalling  one  another  by  reason  of 
the  bond  of  association.  The  elements  are  not  brought 
together  by  reason  of  their  forming  a  unity  in  themselves; 
it  is  only  necessary  to  associate  them  as  having  been  iden- 
tified in  conscious  experience.  But  the  imagination  always 
works  from  the  dim  outline  of  something  conceived  of  as 
a  unity  in  itself  to  a  clear  picture  of  it  as  a  whole  and  irf 
all  its  parts.  The  unity  of  simple  reproduction  is  the 
unity  of  conscious  experiences ;  the  unity  of  the  imagina- 
tion is  the  conceived  unity  of  things.  Again,  an  object 
remembered,  in  order  to  be  a  conscious  reproduction, 
must  be  associated  in  present  consciousness  with  past  ex- 
perience; but  an  image,  whether  it  be  a  reproduction  or 
an  invention,  is  as  truly  an  image  without  as  with  the 
consciousness  of  its  previous  presence  in  the  mind. 

3.  The  several  uses  of  the  representative  faculty  men- 
tioned above  may  be  described  with  a  good  degree  of 
accuracy  as  historical,  comparative,  rational,  inventive, 
and  lesthetic.  The  reproductive  imagination  has  two  im- 
portant uses.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  an  aid  to  memory. 
It  takes  the  elements  restored  by  reproduction  and  forms 
a  unity  of  them  which  can  be  distinctly  and  easily  held 
before  the  mind,  costing  little  expenditure  of  mental  en- 


REPRESENTATION.  229 

ergy,  while  the  faculty  of  reproduction  adds  one  after 
another  of  the  associated  thoughts  for  the  use  of  the  com- 
parative faculty  or  any  other  use  desired.  In  the  second 
place,  it  helps  the  understanding.  In  reading  or  listening 
to  instruction,  the  more  vividly  we  can  picture  to  our- 
selves the  scenes,  the  persons,  the  places,  and  the  objects 
presented,  the  easier  it  is  to  follow  the  thought  and  the 
clearer  our  understanding  will  be.  The  process  of  reason- 
ing, as  in  Geometrical  demonstrations,  is  largely  dependent 
on  facility  in  representing  by  the  imagination  the  objects 
and  forms  upon  which  we  reason. 

4.  We  might  make  a  more  minute  classification  of  the 
uses  of  the  representative  faculty  than  the  one  given  above. 
Images  of  sight  differ  from  those  of  sound  and  the  other 
senses.  Images  of  space  or  outline  differ  from  images  of 
objects.  It  is  important  to  note  that  the  imagination  must 
be  cultivated  for  facility  in  each  one  of  the  uses  to  which 
it  is  applied.  A  person  may  be  able  to  represent  to  him- 
self objects  of  sight  with  the  greatest  vividness,  without 
being  able  to  represent  a  strain  of  music  at  all;  and  the 
same  is  true  of  other  uses  of  this  faculty. 

Law  I. — The  Imagination  is  Cultivated  by  Individ- 
ualizing THE  Forms  of  Mental  Activity. 

Proof. — It  is  the  work  of  the  representative  faculty  to 
hold  forth  individual  forms,  and  this  Law  follows  from  the 
Laws  of  Exercise.  Memory  is  satisfied  with  recalling 
objects  and  scenes  as  members  of  a  series,  but  the  imagin- 
ation seeks  to  picture  individual  objects  and  events  as  they 
stand  by  themselves.  Reasoning  may  proceed  from  ab- 
stract concepts  and  general  terms  to  its  conclusions,  but 
imagination  asks  for  a  particular  instance  to  which  the 
concept  or  general  term  may  apply. 


230  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 


Observations. 


(I.)  While  the  different  forms  of  imagination  do  not 
imply  each  other,  they  have  so  much  in  common  that 
they  easily  interchange.  If  historical  and  aesthetic  imagi- 
nation are  both  strong  they  are  liable  to  lead  to  confusion 
in  distinguishing  truth  from  fiction.  They  become  a 
source  of  real  danger  to  the  story-teller  and  the  historian. 
Macaulay's  pen  was  equally  facile  in  sketching  fact  and 
fancy,  and  his  weak  point  as  an  historian  was  his  liability 
to  be  influenced  by  his  ideals  to  underrate  many  real 
events  and  characters.  He  was  too  much  of  an  artist  to 
be  the  truest  historian. 

(II.)  When  the  imagination  is  used  to  hold  up  before 
the  mind  a  particular  character,  conduct,  or  transaction 
for  exact  analysis,  or  when  employed  in  abstract  reason- 
ing, it  is  called  philosophical  imagination.  This  is  one  of 
the  most  difficult  uses  of  the  faculty,  and  the  person  who 
possesses  the  power  in  a  high  degree  has  great  capacity 
for  intellectual  work.  It  is  one  of  the  chief  character- 
istics of  great  dramatists. 

Law  II. — The  Imagination  Economizes  Mental  En- 
ergy. 

First  Proof. — This  may  be  shown  inductively.  Chil- 
dren who  are  soon  wearied  if  their  attention  is  kept 
confined  to  one  thing,  will  remain  attentive  longer  in  con- 
sidering things  that  appeal  to  the  imagination  than  in  the 
exercise  of  any  other  faculty.  A  writer  or  speaker  will 
maintain  attention  for  a  longer  time  by  frequent  appeals  to 
the  imagination,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  arouse  it  directly, 
than  if  instruction  or  argument  is  so  given  that  the  imag- 


REPRODUCTION.  23 1 

ination  is  slightly  exercised.     Appeals  to  the  imagination 
are  most  required  by  the  ignorant  and  untrained. 

Second  Proof. — The  Law  may  be  shown  deductively 
from  the  nature  of  the  act.  It  is  the  most  direct  form  of 
unification,  and  the  mind  easily  holds  its  unities  according 
to  the  Law  of  permanency,  and  adds  new  discriminations 
with  the  least  expenditure  of  energy. 

Third  Proof. — The  imagination  is  a  form  of  activity 
nearly  involving  the  senses,  and  should  be  slightly  ex- 
haustive of  energy  according  to  the  second  Law  of  Physi- 
ological Relations. 

Observations. 

(I.)  The  value  of  imagination  as  an  economical  form 
of  activity  can  scarcely  be  overestimated.  It  enables  the 
child  to  hold  a  point  in  mind  till  understood,  it  fixes  a 
point  in  memory  by  virtue  of  the  completeness  of  the 
unification,  it  gives  pleasurable  relaxation  from  exhaustive 
abstract  thinking  without  straying  from  the  right  direction 
of  thought,  it  collects  scattered  energies  that  are  tending 
to  dissipation,  and  it  becomes  the  suggestive  beginning  of 
new  trains  of  thought. 

(II.)  The  imagination  of  children  will  be  cultivated  by 
requiring  them  to  give  concrete  illustrations  of  their 
thoughts.  They  should  be  taught  to  abstract  and  to  gen- 
eralize, but  should  not  be  allowed  to  omit  individual 
examples.  It  is  not  enough  for  the  teacher  or  the  book  to 
illustrate.  This  does  not  much  cultivate  the  active  imag- 
ination. Original  illustrations  should  be  required  of  the 
pupil.  The  neglect  of  this  in  the  teaching  of  grammar  is 
one  of  the  most  serious  errors  commonly  met  with  in 
teaching  this  subject.  A  rule  can  not  mean  much  to  a 
pupil  who  can  not  apply  it  to  specific  cases. 


232  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

Law  III. — Imagination  Leads  in  the  Direction  of 
Definite,  Clear,  and  Positive  Consciousness. 

Proof. — Imagination  holds  the  object  of  its  activity  in 
such  complete  unity,  and  with  such  ease,  that  the  mind  is 
free  to  consider  any  of  its  parts  or  relations,  and  thus  make 
the  consciousness  of  variety  and  unity  complete. 

Observations. 

(I.)  Next  to  the  use  of  the  senses  the  imagination  should 
be  employed  to  secure  reliability  in  trains  of  thought. 
Even  the  most  logical  minds  will  draw  absurd  conclusions 
from  abstract  reasoning,  but  when  a  particular  application 
is  made  the  error  is  likely  to  appear.  In  the  use  of  poetic 
and  figurative  language  mixed  metaphors  would  never  oc- 
cur if  the  images  were  complete  in  the  mind.  One  who 
really  pictured  himself  as  in  the  midst  of  a  stormy  sea 
could  never  think  of  a  deliverer  as  a  rock  of  safety. 

(II.)  In  the  interpretation  of  language  we  should  be 
careful  to  distinguish  between  the  figurative  use  of  a  word 
and  its  literal  use  in  a  derived  sense.  What  appears  to  us 
as  the  highly  figurative  language  of  antiquity  may  often  be 
softened  in  its  tone  by  observing  this  distinction,  and  we 
shall  sometimes  be  saved  from  the  conception  of  most  ab- 
surd images.  Let  us  take  as  an  illustration  the  description  of 
the  apostle's  vision  of  the  Redeemer  in  the  third  chapter 
of  the  Revelation.  The  Savior  is  there  represented  with 
a  sword  proceeding  out  of  his  mouth.  Taken  literally  the 
image  is  absurd,  but  when  we  consider  how  much  the  au- 
thor dwelt  upon  the  term  * 'sword, "  and  that  from  its  effects 
the  term  is  spoken  of  as  "the  sword  of  the  Spirit,"  we  may 
easily  suppose  that  John  only  had  the  image  of  this  word 
coming  from  the  mouth  of  the  Lord,  and  that  he  called  it 


REPRODUCTION.  233 

a  sword  not  from  any  thought  of  the  form  of  a  sword  but 
from  the  similarity  of  effectiveness.  The  term  sword 
meant  word  in  form  and  sword  in  force. 

(III.)  Imagination  is  most  active  in  childhood,  as  it  is 
in  the  early  history  of  any  people,  and  as  it  was  in  the  in- 
fancy of  the  race.  It  is  an  easy  activity  for  children  and 
should  be  employed  to  keep  attention,  to  stimulate  activ- 
ity, and  to  make  thought  definite,  distinct,  and  positive. 
All  will  not  be  agreed  as  to  the  kind  of  stimulus  a  child's 
imagination  should  have,  but  all  must  say  it  should  be 
developed.  Whether  fairy  tales  and  legends  of  impossible 
beings  and  transactions  should  be  employed  or  not  must 
be  left  to  individual  judgment.  One  caution  should  at 
least  be  given;  that  is,  the  imagination  should  not  be  ex- 
cited by  objects  which  excite  terror.  This  is  an  obstruc- 
tion to  activity  and  is  a  habit  of  mind  not  to  be  cultivated 
unnecessarily. 

IV.     REASONING. 

I.  We  have  already  seen  that  comparison  enters  into 
the  very  first  acts  of  consciousness.  Without  it  even  per- 
ception would  be  impossible,  for  perception  requires  identi- 
fication and  identification  requires  comparison.  We  may 
compare  objects  and  qualities  through  the  senses  and  self- 
consciousness,  or  we  may  identify  them  under  the  princi- 
ples or  forms  of  reason  which  are  native  to  the  mind. 
When  we  say  gold  is  yellow  we  make  comparison  by  the 
sense  of  sight.  When  we  say  an  orange  is  round,  or  that 
certain  conduct  is  wrong,  we  compare  the  form  of  the 
orange  or  the  character  of  the  conduct  with  the  native 
notion  of  roundness  or  that  of  right  and  wrong.  The  uni- 
fication in  the  sentence  "gold  is  yellow,"  is  a  perception, 
the  unification  in  the  sentence  "  the  orange  is  round,"  is 

a  judgment, 
s.  E.-20. 


234  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

2.  The  power  to  compare  and  unify  under  the  principles 
of  the  reason  is  called  the  elaborative  or  reasoning  faculty. 
This  is  not  the  faculty  of  reason,  and  its  activity  depends 
on  the  latter  faculty  only  as  discrimination  depends  upon 
the  power  of  unification.  The  ability  to  develop  the  ideas 
of  reason  must  be  present,  but  these  ideas  are  only  devel- 
oped by  the  exercise  of  the  elaborative  faculty  or  reason- 
ing. This  places  the  activity  of  reasoning  before  that  of 
reason  in  the  order  of  development. 

3.  The  formation  of  a  simple  judgment,  like  that  of  the 
roundness  of  the  orange,  is  an  act  of  the  elaborative  fac- 
ulty, because  by  it  we  develop  thought  in  the  mind  which 
is  higher  than  any  act  of  perception.  But  it  is  only  a 
simple  act.  The  elaborative  faculty  is  not  only  capable 
of  identifying  perceptions  under  the  simple  principles  of 
reason,  it  may  identify  judgments  with  one  another  under 
higher  principles  of  reason.  When  we  say  **an  orange 
will  roll  down  an  inclined  plane,"  we  identify  the  round 
object  with  rolling  bodies  under  the  principle  of  cause  and 
effect.  First  there  is  the  judgment  that  the  orange  is 
round,  then  there  is  the  judgment  that  round  bodies  will 
roll  down  an  inclined  plane,  and  then  there  is  the  com- 
parison and  identification  of  these  judgments.  We  see 
that  the  first  two  judgments  involve  the  conclusion.  What 
causes  all  round  bodies  thus  to  roll  will  cause  the  orange 
to  roll.  Such  a  comparison  and  unification  of  judgments 
is  called  a  process  of  reasoning. 

4.  An  act  of  reasoning,  even  an  act  of  simple  judg- 
ment, involves  several  processes.  In  the  above  stated 
judgment,  **the  orange  is  round,"  there  is,  besides  per- 
ception, first  an  act  of  abstraction  by  which  the  attention 
is  withdrawn  from  the  color,  hardness,  and  other  qualities 
of  the  orange,  and  fixed  on  its  form.  In  the  second 
place,   the  idea  of  roundness  is  developed  in  the  mind. 


REASONING.  235 

In  the  third  place,  the  orange  is  identified  by  means  of 
this  common  quaHty  as  belonging  to  a  class  of  round 
objects.  The  act  of  judgment  is  an  act  of  classification. 
When  we  compare  judgments  together,  and  unify  them 
under  a  higher  principle,  we  repeat  these  same  processes, 
and  our  final  judgment  is  but  a  classification.  Thus  if 
we  compare  the  round  orange  with  objects  that  will  roll 
down  an  inclined  plane,  we  classify  them  together  under 
the  notion  of  causation.  Other  objects  will  do  this  if 
they  are  round,  and  we  say  the  orange  will  do  it  because 
it  conforms  to  the  required  conditions. 

5.  In  classifying  things  we  are  not  always  able  to  find 
so  exact  an  idea  as  that  of  roundness  by  means  of  which 
to  make  a  comparison.  When  we  speak  of  a  given  object 
as  a  table,  we  classify  it,  but  if  asked  why  we  call  it  a 
table,  or  classify  it  as  we  do,  we  might  be  puzzled  to  give 
an  exact  answer.  We  could  not  say  it  is  because  of  its 
form,  for  a  table  and  a  bench  might  have  the  same  form, 
and  indeed  what  would  answer  very  well  for  a  bench  for  a 
man  would  do  equally  well  for  a  table  for  a  child.  Besides, 
tables  have  many  forms,  and  the  primitive  idea  seems  to 
involve  nothing  more  than  a  solid  with  a  smooth,  flat  sur- 
face. We  could  not  call  the  material  essential,  for  it  is 
made  of  many  materials.  Neither  can  we  say  its  use  is 
what  makes  it  a  table,  for  tables  have  many  uses,  and 
many  things  not  tables  have  the  same  uses  to  which  tables 
are  put.  Nevertheless,  we  have  a  notion  sufficiently  exact 
to  enable  us  to  classify  objects  as  tables  without  hesitation. 
This  notion  is  called  a  general  notion,  and  the  act  by  which 
it  is  formed  is  called  generalization.  A  term  that  is  ap- 
plicable at  pleasure  to  any  individual  object  that  belongs 
to  a  given  class  is  called  a  general  term. 

6.  Several  questions  are  asked  concerning  generaliza- 
tion, the  answers  to  which  have  important  bearings  on 


236  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

educational  problems.  First,  what  is  the  character  of  the 
general  notion,  and  how  is  it  developed?  Secondly,  in 
what  order  is  it  developed  ?  Thirdly,  what  is  the  relation 
of  the  general  term  to  particular  or  proper  names? 

(i.)  In  answering  the  first  question,  the  attention  may 
be  called  to  definitions.  A  generally  accepted  definition 
is  the  best  description  that  can  be  put  into  language  of  the 
notion  described.  But  definitions  of  such  words  as  horse, 
corn,  and  so  forth,  if  they  are  designed  to  set  forth  the 
ideas  expressed  in  the  terms,  do  not  stop  with  a  single 
characteristic,  but  they  name  several  characteristics,  no 
one  of  which,  perhaps,  belongs  only  to  the  thing  described, 
and  some  of  them,  as  color,  may  be  quite  variable.  The 
general  notion,  then,  is  a  combination  of  variable  ele- 
ments, but  of  elements  that  vary  only  within  fixed  limits. 
These  limits  must  be  determined  by  a  study  of  individuals 
belonging  to  the  class  described,  and  the  notion  must  be 
developed  from  the  indefinite  to  the  definite,  according  to 
the  first  division  of  the  second  Law  of  Consciousness. 

(2.)  The  second  question  must  be  answered  in  accord- 
ance with  the  facts  implied  in  the  answer  to  the  first.  If 
the  general  notion  is  developed  from  individuals,  a  knowl- 
edge of  individuals  should  be  given  before  the  general 
notion  is  sought.  The  Laws  of  Sequence  apply  to  this 
development,  and  the  order  is  also  in  accord  with  several 
of  the  Laws  of  Physiological  Relations. 

(3.)  In  answering  the  third  question  it  does  not  concern 
us  to  know  whether  all  general  terms  are  derived  from 
individual  names  or  not.  The  only  part  of  the  question 
of  consequence  to  us  here,  is,  whether  we  should  attempt 
to  develop  the  idea  around  the  general  term,  bringing  it 
from  obscurity  by  showing  how  it  may  be  applied  to  indi- 
viduals; or,  after  calling  attention  to  several  individuals, 
to  point  out  the  several  things  that  are  common,  and  give 


ORDER   OF   EXERCISE.  237 

the  general  term  to  designate  the  general  idea  thus  devel- 
oped. The  Laws  of  Sequence  make  the  answer  to  this 
question  depend  upon  the  historical  order  in  which  the 
general  term  is  developed.  In  answer  to  this  question  it 
may  be  said,  first,  that  it  has  already  been  shown  that  the 
general  notion  follows  the  particular,  and  we  might  expect 
the  general  term  to  follow  the  individual  designation.  But 
in  the  second  place,  new  names  are  growing  up  amongst 
us  continually,  and  it  is  easy  to  analyze  the  process  and 
determine  the  question  experimentally.  When  a  child,  a 
domestic  animal,  or  a  place  is  named,  the  individual  name 
has  no  reference  to  a  classification  of  the  object,  but  gen- 
eral designations  are  naturally  derived  from  individual 
names,  like  the  name  of  a  town  or  country.  Thus  Roman 
is  derived  from  Rome.  From  these  considerations  we 
ought  to  conclude  that  a  general  term  or  a  general  state- 
ment is  not  sought  by  the  mind  and  ought  not  to  be  given 
until  particular  instances  have  been  clearly  set  forth  to 
develop  general  notions.  At  the  same  time  we  must  bear 
in  mind  that  the  general  notion  will  begin  in  obscurity,  the 
same  as  all  other  notions,  and  as  soon  as  it  begins  to 
develop  a  term  may  be  required  to  facilitate  the  process  of 
unification. 

7.  The  two  forms  of  reasoning  known  as  induction  and 
deduction  have  already  been  set  forth  as  to  their  form  in 
defining  these  terms.  But  we  ought  further  to  ask  what 
gives  validity  to  their  conclusions. 

8.  In  the  first  place,  let  us  consider  induction.  It  has 
been  defined  as  drawing  a  general  conclusion  from  one  or 
more  particular  examples.  If  a  child  burns  his  hand  in 
the  fire  he  perceives  that  the  fire  burns  him.  This  is  not 
an  inference.  But  if  he  concludes  from  this  that  all  fires 
will  burn  he  makes  an  induction.  What  is  the  process  by 
which  the  conclusion  is  reached,  and  what  ground  of  con- 


238  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

fidence  is  there  for  the  induction  ?     If  we  will  consider 
the  growth  of  thought  in  ourselves,  we  shall  see  that  the 
general  conclusion  does  not  come  into  consciousness  at  the 
same  time  with  the  first  perception.     Probably  there  is  no 
thought  of  other  fire  than  that  which  is  felt.     What  the 
mind  does  is  to  identify  this  fire  as  the  cause  of  the  sensa- 
tion.    When  the  child  sees  another  fire  he  identifies  that 
with  the  first  fire  and  says  that  too  will  burn.     This  he 
does  in  accordance  with  the  axiom  which  begins  to  come 
into    consciousness,    that   like   causes    will   produce    like 
effects.     When  his  mind  has  successively  identified  several 
fires  with  the  one  that  was  first  felt,  he  drops  the  thought 
of  individual  fires  from  his  consciousness,  in  accordance 
with  the  natural  tendency  to  degradation  by  unifying  with- 
out maintaining  a  consciousness  of  variety,  and  he  makes 
the  general  affirmation,  fire,  all  fires,  will  burn.     In  this 
reasoning  the    notion  of  causation,  and  that  of  the  uni- 
formity of   the   relation  between   cause   and   effect,    are 
necessary  notions  which  the  mind  accepts  and  which  it 
can  never  doubt  after  they  have  once  been  brought  clearly 
into  consciousness.     But  there  are  two  liabilities  to  error. 
There  may  be  error  in  identifying  the  fire  with  the  cause 
of  the  burning,  or  there  may  be  error  in  identifying  all 
fires  with  the  fire  that  burned  the  hand.     Thus  when  a 
child  first  sees  his  face  in  a  glass  he  identifies  his  vision 
with  a  child  beyond  the  glass  as  its  cause.   >  This  error  is  a 
failure   properly  to  identify  a  perception  with  its  cause. 
If  the  hand  had  been  burned  by  a  stove  instead  of  a  fire, 
the  child  would  have  been  led  into  the  error  of  supposing 
all  stoves  would    burn.     He   would  have   identified    all 
stoves,  the  same  as  all  fires,  with  the  one  that  burned. 
The  mistake  in  either  case  is  in  identifying  causes,   it  is 
not  due  to  the  untrustworthincss  of  the  notion  of  causation. 
9.  But  there  are  other  kinds  of  causes  which  the  mind 


KINDS   OF   CAUSATION.  239 

as  naturally  identifies  as  the  one  given  in  the  illustration, 
and  which  are  as  Ukely  to  be  the  occasion  of  error.  The 
fire  is  the  active  cause  of  the  burning,  and  is  hence  called 
an  efficient,  or  producing  cause.  If  one  knows  that  a 
certain  piece  of  yellow  metal  is  gold  and  very  valuable, 
and  wants  to  know  if  another  yellow  piece  he  has  found 
is  also  gold,  he  first  examines  the  known  metal  and  finds 
it  heavy,  malleable,  ductile,  and  so  forth,  and  he  tests  it 
till  he  has  found  all  its  qualities.  He  then  examines  the 
unknown  piece,  and  if  it  possesses  all  these  qualities,  and 
no  others,  he  identifies  it  as  gold.  If  he  finds  a  quality 
which  the  gold  does  not  possess  he  immediately  says  it  is 
not  gold.  The  qualities  that  are  found  in  gold  are  all  we 
know  of  what  constitutes  this  metal,  and  they  are  called 
the  material  cause  of  gold.  We  identify  material  the 
same  as  efficient  cause,  and  with  the  same  liabilities  to 
error.  The  durability  of  a  steel  rail  is  due  to  its  tough- 
ness, and  the  material  is  mostly  iron.  If  we  identify  the 
toughness  with  the  iron  alone,  and  substitute  iron  for  steel, 
supposing  it  the  cause  of  the  durability,  we  commit  an 
error  in  identifying  material  cause  and  effect.  If  we  find 
a  piece  of  steel  that  will  bend  and  infer  that  all  steel  is 
thus  flexible  we  commit  an  error  in  identifying  material 
causes. 

TO.  Again,  the  chemist  tells  us  that  starch  and  wood 
have  the  same  chemical  elements  and  in  the  same  pro- 
portions. We  correctly  identify  the  material  causes  of  the 
two  substances,  but  if  we  use  the  starch  for  fuel  or  the 
wood  for  the  purposes  of  starch,  we  fail  of  the  results 
looked  for.  What  is  the  cause  of  this  difference  ?  There 
must  be  some  difference  in  the  arrangement  of  the  ele- 
ments. They  are  put  into  one  form  for  starch,  and  an- 
other form  for  wood.  This  formal  element  is  called  a 
formal   cause.     It  is  the  plan  in  accordance  with  which 


240  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

elements  or  parts  are  put  together  to  make  a  whole.  We 
are  liable  to  the  same  error  in  identifying  formal  causes  as 
those  named  above.  Thus  heat  changes  the  condition  or 
form  of  union  between  particles  of  iron,  and  it  is  because 
the  child  does  not  know  of  this  formal  cause  that  he  thinks 
all  stoves  will  burn  because  one  stove  has  done  this. 

11.  If  one  man  is  seen  to  strike  another  dead  in  a  quar- 
rel, we  say  he  is  a  murderer.  But  when  the  case  is  exam- 
ined more  carefully,  if  it  is  found  that  the  slayer  had  been 
first  attacked,  and  was  only  acting  in  self-defense,  we  no 
longer  identify  the  act  as  murder.  The  purpose  of  the 
act  is  a  determining  element  in  our  judgment  of  it,  was  a 
controlling  cause  of  the  act  itself,  and  this  we  call  a  final 
cause.  In  judging  of  the  actions  of  men  we  must  identify 
this,  and  if  we  fail  to  make  a  correct  identification  we  err 
in  judgment.  In  the  development  of  law  in  a  community, 
at  first  an  act  is  condemned  as  worthy  of  punishment, 
then  other  similar  acts  are  punished,  then  it  is  declared 
that  all  similar  acts  should  be  punished,  and  the  necessity 
arises  of  identifying  acts  with  the  act  first  punished  or 
with  the  general  class  that  has  been  developed  in  thought 
by  it. 

12.  Thus  we  find  four  classes  of  causes  under  which  we 
may  identify  objects  and  actions,  and  we  may  err  in  our 
inductive  conclusion  if  we  fail  in  identifying  the  real  cause 
of  the  specific  result  from  which  we  are  led  to  make  the 
induction;  or  if  we  incorrectly  identify  the  causes  included 
in  the  general  conclusion  with  the  specific  cause,  under 
any  one  of  the  four  kinds  of  causation.  The  basis  of 
induction  is,  therefore,  the  principle  of  causation,  and 
the  liability  to  error  lies  in  the  difficulty  of  identifying  real 
causes.  It  is  confessed  that  the  connection  between 
cause  and  effect  can  not  be  discovered,  and  things  which 
we  call  causes  are  complex.     There  is  the  possibility  of 


INDUCTIVE    REASONING.  24I 

intermediate  steps  between  what  we  suppose  a  cause  and 
its  effect,  and  we  know  not  how  many  of  the  elements  of 
our  cause  may  drop  out  before  the  effect  is  reached,  or 
what  other  changes  may  be  made.  Thus  in  many  ways 
the  process  of  inductive  argument  is  beset  with  difficulty. 
13.  It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  considerations  that 
the  trust  we  put  in  an  inductive  conclusion  does  not  rest 
so  much  on  its  conformity  with  a  large  number  of  known 
facts,  as  upon  our  conviction  that  we  have  identified  true 
causes.  One  of  the  most  patient  and  successful  investi- 
gators of  modern  times  is  the  French  savant,  M.  Pasteur. 
His  processes  were  all  of  an  inductive  character,  and 
while  he  multiplied  experiments  to  some  extent,  to  justify 
his  conclusions,  his  main  effort  was  always  to  isolate 
causes.  For  instance,  he  set  himself  to  discover  the 
cause  of  splenic  fever.  The  disease  can  be  produced  by 
inoculating  with  a  virus,  or  poisonous  matter,  which  is 
always  present  where  the  fever  is  developed.  This  virus 
was  found  to  contain  living  germs,  and  the  question  was 
whether  to  identify  these  germs  or  the  fluid  portion  of  the 
virus  as  the  cause.  Pasteur  isolated  the  germs  by  suc- 
cessively propagating  them  in  a  medium  that  did  not  allow 
of  the  reproduction  of  the  fluid  portion,  and  the  last  prod- 
uct of  the  germs  produced  bacteria,  and  these  splenic 
fever.  He  again  isolated  the  fluid  portion  by  allowing 
the  germs  to  settle  to  the  bottom  in  a  tube.  The  upper 
portion  containing  no  germs  gave  no  effect,  the  lower 
portion  produced  splenic  fever  and  death.  This  identified 
the  germs  or  bacteria  with  the  cause  of  the  fever  and  ex- 
cluded the  fluid  virus.  But  it  was  claimed  that  inocula- 
tions had  produced  death  without  the  production  of 
bacteria  in  the  virus.  Pasteur  proved  that  these  cases 
had  been  erroneously  identified  with  splenic  fever,  in  the 
development  of  which  bacteria  are  multiplied.     Again  it 

S.  E.-2i. 


242  THE  SCIENCE   OF  EDUCATION. 

was  claimed  that  a  virus  containing  bacteria  had  been 
taken,  and  the  bacteria  killed  with  oxygen,  and  yet  the 
virus  had  proved  fatal.  Pasteur  proved  that  the  virus 
used  contained  other  living  germs  that  could  not  be 
killed  with  oxygen,  and  these  might  be  the  cause  of  death. 
In  all  these  cases  he  isolated  causes  in  order  to  identify 
them  with  each  other  and  with  their  effects.  The  value 
of  his  work  depended  upon  his  ingenuity  and  success  in 
this,  rather  than  in  the  number  of  his  experiments.  It 
has  been  said  that  his  success  depended  upon  his  adopt- 
ing the  experimental  method.  But  he  might  have 
adopted  a  different  experimental  method,  and  followed  it 
out  with  all  diligence  without  success.  Rational  experi- 
ment gave  him  success.  As  induction  depends  so  much 
upon  the  isolation  of  causes  for  the  purpose  of  comparison 
and  identification,  we  may  see  in  this  method  of  mental 
activity,  as  well  as  in  other  forms  of  development,  the 
importance  of  analysis. 

14.  But  however  particular  and  persevering  we  may 
be,  it  is  never  possible  to  say  we  have  made  an  ultimate 
analysis,  and  we  are  continually  forced  to  modify  our 
general  conclusions  and  our  identification  of  causes. 
Even  with  all  his  efforts  and  all  the  positive  results 
claimed  for  Pasteur,  there  are  those  who  still  doubt  the 
reliability  of  his  conclusions.  An  illustration  of  the  dan- 
ger of  error  in  conclusions  formed  after  the  most  exhaustive 
study  of  facts  may  be  seen  in  the  Newtonian  theory  of 
light.  Perhaps  no  other  person  was  ever  so  thorough  in 
experimenting  on  a  single  cause  as  was  Newton  in  exper- 
imenting on  the  nature  of  light.  Yet  the  conclusion  to 
which  he  came  has  now  been  universally  abandoned. 

15.  There  is  a  class  of  general  truths  which  depend 
upon  a  prion  ideas,  and  their  validity  for  us  especially 
depends  upon  the  clearness  of  our  reasoning  rather  than 


INDUCTIVE    REASONING.  243 

upon  examples.  Such  are  mathematical  truths.  But  these 
truths  may  be  seen  illustrated  in  examples,  and  the  gen- 
eral truth  may  be  inferred  from  the  particular  without  the 
assurance  of  its  absolute  certainty.  Thus  by  taking  sev- 
eral examples  we  may  infer  inductively  that  if  we  multiply 
the  numerator  of  a  fraction  by  a  given  number  we  shall 
increase  the  value  of  the  fraction  by  that  ratio.  It  may 
be  asked  whether  we  should  proceed  by  the  inductive 
method  in  developing  these  truths,  or  try  from  the  first  to 
base  our  reasoning  entirely  on  the  necessary  laws  of 
thought.  In  answer  to  this  it  may  be  said  first,  that  we 
must  develop  the  idea  of  the  general  truth  as  well  as  its 
necessity.  In  accordance  with  the  Law  of  development 
of  all  ideas  by  the  senses,  these  ideas,  before  they  are 
generalized  as  necessary,  must  be  gained  from  examples. 
So,  too,  in  accordance  with  the  second  Law  of  Physiolog- 
ical Relations,  it  is  easier  to  form  the  general  idea  by  in- 
duction than  by  pure  reasoning.  But  after  the  notion  of 
the  general  truth  is  formed  its  necessity  can  only  be 
proved  from  the  necessary  laws  of  thought,  and  the  mind 
should  not  be  satisfied  with  any  thing  less  than  this. 

1 6.  The  importance  of  induction  is  two-fold.  In  the 
first  place,  it  lays  a  foundation  for  unification.  When  a 
general  statement  is  made,  it  offers  a  notion  with  which 
particular  notions  may  be  compared.  Even  though  it  be 
a  false  generalization,  it  enables  the  mind  to  make  com- 
parisons, and  a  denial  of  agreement  will  lead  to  other 
inductions,  and  at  last  a  true  general  statement  will  be 
reached.  There  can  be  no  considerable  advance  in 
thought  without  it.  In  the  second  place,  the  attempt  to 
establish  general  propositions  by  continued  inductions  is 
called  for  in  the  study  of  all  the  natural  sciences,  and  in 
all  the  guiding  principles  of  practical  fife.  It  was  a  favor- 
ite principle  of  Pasteur  that  it  was  necessary  to  have  some 


244  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

theory  to  lead  one  in  experiment  and  investigation.  A 
friend  of  his  once  said  to  him:  "If  you  have  established 
what  I  was  unable  to  discover  you  must  have  been  guided 
to  your  result  by  a  preconceived  idea."  This  was  the  way 
in  which  Pasteur  proceeded,  and  it  is  the  true  way,  but 
one  must  carefully  avoid  the  error  of  allowing  any  impor- 
tance to  the  theory  with  which  he  begins  beyond  what 
the  results  of  experience  and  facts  give  to  it. 

17.  The  second  method  of  reasoning  is  called  deductive. 
It  begins  with  a  general  proposition  which  it  assumes  as  true. 
In  this  proposition  one  term  is  identified  with  another  as 
contained  in  it,  as  a  part  of  it,  or  as  belonging  to  it;  that 
is,  the  second  term  expresses  that  which  is  a  kind  of  cause 
of  that  which  is  expressed  by  the  first.  In  another  propo- 
sition the  second  term  is  identified  with  a  third  term  in 
the  same  way.  When  these  two  propositions  are  com- 
pared, the  conclusion  is  drawn  in  which  the  first  term  is 
identified  with  the  third.  Thus,  if  A  is  a  part  of  B,  and  B 
a  part  of  C,  A  will  be  a  part  of  C.  This  reasoning  may 
be  traced  to  our  belief  in  the  persistency  of  causes.  If  A 
is  a  part  of  B,  or  is  in  any  way  the  effect  of  the  cause  B, 
this  effect  will  not  cease  when  B  is  regarded  as  the  effect 
of  C.     We  trace  C  as  a  cause  through  B  to  A. 

The  whole  of  this  reasoning  is  abstract,  if  we  assume 
the  truth  of  the  first  two  propositions.  And  the  truth  of 
these  must  be  evident  from  considerations  entirely  dis- 
tinct from  the  reasoning  of  which  they  form  the  basis. 
Deduction,  therefore,  should  succeed  induction,  which  is 
more  closely  connected  with  the  activity  of  the  senses. 
That  induction  does  precede  deduction  is  seen  in  the  fact 
that  induction  is  required  to  develop  or  establish  the  gen- 
eral proposition  with  which  deduction  begins.  Whewell 
has  recognized  the  truth  of  this  in  his  History  of  the  In- 
ductive Sciences.     He  says,    **To  give  real  significance 


DEDUCTIVE    REASONING.  245 

to  our  propositions,  Induction  must  provide  what  Deduc- 
tion can  not  supply.  From  a  pictured  hook  we  can  hang 
only  a  pictured  chain."  When  it  is  said  that  the  deductive 
sciences  were  developed  earlier  than  inductive  sciences, 
we  limit  deduction  to  those  sciences  that  are  founded  on 
a  priori  principles.  As  we  have  seen,  these  principles 
are  first  brought  into  consciousness  by  the  inductive  proc- 
ess, and  then  established  as  necessary  by  the  higher 
faculty  of  reason.  What  are  called  the  inductive  sciences 
require  more  patient  experiment  and  investigation,  and  the 
difficulty  of  establishing  truth  by  induction  has  been  the 
cause  of  the  late  appearance  of  these  sciences. 

V.  REASON. 

The  faculty  of  Reason  is  to  be  distinguished  from 
the  Elaborative  faculty.  It  furnishes  the  principles  that 
form  the  basis  of  the  elaborative  process  of  reasoning. 
Its  products  are  the  latest  and  most  difficult  notions 
brought  into  clear  consciousness.  The  Laws  of  Con- 
sciousness, Sequence,  and  Physiological  Relations  should 
be  especially  remembered  in  developing  this  faculty.  As 
a  relief  to  the  abstract  character  of  this  class  of  notions  it 
is  of  great  importance  to  cultivate  the  rational  or  phil- 
osophical imagination. 

Observation. 

It  has  been  already  remarked  of  the  higher  faculties 
that  they  begin  their  development  at  the  same  time  with 
the  lowest,  and  that  children,  when  very  young,  may 
study  on  the  profoundest  principles  of  philosophy.  It  is 
not  intended,  by  dwelling  on  the  order  of  dependence,  to 
discourage  attempts  to  develop  the  reasoning  faculty  in  the 


246 


THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 


earliest  stages  of  a  child's  education,  or  justify  its  neglect. 
It  is  only  designed  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  this 
faculty  is  slower  than  the  lower  faculties  in  arriving  at  its 
greatest  power,  when  it  can  comprehend  the  greatest 
variety  in  a  rational  unity.  This  faculty  should  receive 
its  due  share  of  attention  by  simple  exercises  at  the  same 
time  that  the  lower  faculties  are  growing  most  rapidly. 


CHAPTER  11. 


FEELINGS. 


HE  feelings  constitute  the  second  general 
class  of  mental  activities.  Their  forms  are 
the  varieties  of  pleasure  and  pain  which  we 
experience.  In  distinguishing  them  from 
cognitions  and  the  will  we  are  not  to  seek 
for  successive  acts  of  consciousness,  the  first  forms  belong- 
ing to  one  class,  and  succeeding  forms  belonging  to  an- 
other. Pleasure  and  pain  are  continuous  in  the  very  act 
of  acquiring  knowledge.  But  the  fact  that  these  acts  are 
simultaneous  does  not  show  identity  of  faculty;  for  mem- 
ory and  imagination,  cognition  and  volition,  may  be  si- 
multaneous. The  following  are  the  reasons  for  considering 
the  feelings  a  separate  class  of  faculties. 

(i.)  No  analysis  of  acts  of  knowledge  reveals  feeling. 
The  pleasure  derived  from  the  smell  of  a  rose  is  not  a  part 
of  the  perception  by  which  we  distinguish  the  rose.  The 
perception  is  an  act  relating  the  mind  to  objective  exis- 
tence; the  pleasure  is  purely  subjective. 

(2.)  The  degree  of  pleasure  and  pain  has  no  necessary 
dependence  upon  the  activity  of  perception.  In  different 
persons  they  vary  in  relative  strength,  and  in  the  same 
person  they  vary  greatly  in  relative  intensity  at  different 
times.  The  relative  degrees  of  intensity  in  these  different 
activities  depends  upon  the  native  energy  and  its  develop- 
ment as  two  correlative  modes  of  manifestation,  either 
being  developed  without  necessarily  developing  the  other, 
and  either  being  exhaustive  of  energy  that  might  manifest 
itself  in  the  other. 

(247) 


248  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

2.  The  distinction  of  the  feelings  as  a  separate  class  of 
mental  powers  is  modern,  and  while  it  is  now  generally 
made,  there  is  still  some  diversity  in  the  order  of  treating 
them.  Some  treat  them  as  following,  and  others  as  pre- 
ceding the  cognitions.  The  first  conscious  feeling  as  well 
as  the  first  conscious  perception  must  originate  from  the 
action  of  the  nervous  system.  If  we  use  the  term  to  in- 
clude the  first  impulse  of  the  mind  to  activity  when  it  is 
excited  by  the  senses,  and  consider  it  as  representing  the 
state  of  the  mind  itself  without  reference  to  the  cause  of 
the  change  produced,  then  feeling  must  clearly  be  considered 
as  preceding  perception.  The  physical  feelings  may  pos- 
sibly originate  as  physical  activities  along  with  reflex  nerve- 
activity  below  consciousness,  and  consequently  before 
perception.  But  if  we  regard  this  initial  impulse  as  coming 
into  consciousness  under  two  separate  forms,  one  being  an 
affirmation  of  objective  existence  which  we  call  perception, 
and  the  other  a  consciousness  of  some  kind  of  pleasurable 
or  painful  activity,  and  if  we  mean  this  activity  by  feeling, 
it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  even  the  most  primitive 
conscious  feelings  precede  cognitions  in  their  genesis. 
When,  still  further,  we  consider  feelings  as  a  mode  of  re- 
flective consciousness,  and  find  the  most  important  of 
them,  as  the  pleasures  of  the  imagination  and  the  moral 
feelings,  originating  in  activities  of  purely  intellectual  cog- 
nition, we  are  compelled  to  treat  them  as  following  the 
cognitive  faculty. 

3.  If  we  compare  feelings  with  volitions,  we  shall  see 
that  the  activities  of  one  class  become  motives  of  the 
other.  Even  the  moral  feeling,  which  is  not  developed 
without  volition,  is  the  necessary  motive  of  moral  action. 
As  an  illustration  we  may  take  a  case  of  obedience.  A 
child  is  repuired  by  his  father  to  perform  some  act.  There 
must  first  be  an  understanding  of  the  act  required,  then  a 


SEQUENCE   OF   THE    FEELINGS.  249 

consciousness  of  the  obligation  to  obey,  then  the  act  of 
obedience.  If  the  feeUng  of  obligation  does  not  precede 
the  act,  it  is  not  true  obedience.  The  first  feeling  of 
obligation  does  not  arise  from  the  command,  but  only  as 
the  child  struggles  with  the  act ;  yet  the  feeling  must  mature 
before  the  act,  or  obedience  is  not  perfect.  Hence  we 
are  led  to  place  the  feelings  intermediate  between  cog- 
nition and  volition. 

I.  CLASSIFICATION  OF  THE  FEELINGS. 

( I.)  It  is  beyond  dispute  that  no  very  satisfactory  classi- 
fication of  the  feelings  has  ever  been  made.  This  is  mani- 
fest, not  so  much  in  a  failure  to  make  the  classification  con- 
sistent and  complete,  as  in  the  lack  of  an  end  to  make  it 
important.  It  would  seem  the  more  admissible,  therefore, 
to  depart  somewhat  from  ordinary  classifications  and  terms 
in  places  where  the  purpose  in  view  requires  it. 

(2.)  The  object  of  a  classification  of  the  feelings  here, 
is  to  present  them  in  the  order  of  their  development,  and 
show  their  relations  to  each  other  and  to  the  other  men- 
tal activities.  The  very  term  employed  to  designate  this 
class  of  activities,  naming  them  not  only  from  the  senses, 
but  from  the  lowest  sense,  points  to  their  origin  in  sense, 
like  the  cognitions,  and  to  a  beginning  with  the  earliest 
sense-activity.  It  has  been  said  above  that  the  sense  of 
feeling,  while  most  fully  elaborated  at  the  ends  of  the  fin- 
gers, manifests  itself  throughout  the  whole  surface  of  the 
body,  and  wherever  there  are  nerve  termini.  A  con- 
sciousness of  pleasure  and  pain  attends  this  general  sense 
of  feehng  quite  distinct  from  the  feelings  that  attend  the 
activities  of  the  specific  sense  of  touch.  They  are  discrim- 
inating, and  we  say  we  feel  cold  or  weary  or  restless  with 
as  great  exactness  of  meaning  as  we  would  affirm  an  ocular 


250  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

perception.  But  these  feelings  are  not  connected  with 
special  nerve  centers,  but  they  depend  upon  the  organic 
unity  of  the  entire  physical  system  for  their  manifestation 
in  consciousness.  This  characteristic  quality  makes  the 
term  organic  feelings  a  fitting  designation  for  them. 

(3.)  In  the  second  place,  there  are  distinct  feelings 
connected  with  the  activities  of  the  senses.  The  pleasures 
connected  with  the  exercise  of  the  senses  are  of  a  higher 
order  than  the  organic  feelings,  and  when  compared  with 
each  other  rise  in  point  of  delicacy  and  complexity  as  we 
ascend  from  the  sense  of  feeling  to  the  sense  of  sight. 
These  feelings  originate  in  activities  in  which  sense-percep- 
tion also  originates,  but  they  are  confined  to  the  pleasure 
and  pain  that  arise  from  the  sense-impression,  and  must 
be  distinguished  from  the  pleasure  of  thought  which  follows 
the  sense-impression.  Belonging  to  the  organs  of  sense, 
they  may  be  called  sense-feelings.  Thus,  we  find  two 
classes  of  feelings,  springing  directly  from  the  physical 
system,  and  together  they  may  be  classed  as  physical  feel- 
ings. 

(4.)  Higher  than  the  physical  feelings  is  the  pleasure 
that  originates  in  the  activities  of  the  faculties  above  sense- 
perception  ;  that  is,  in  memory,  imagination,  and  so  forth. 
These  may  be  called  the  intellectual  feelings  or  emotions 
proper.  They  may  be  confined  to  the  activities  of  the 
cognitive  powers,  or  they  may  depend  partly  upon  such  a 
consideration  of  an  end  in  view  as  to  involve  an  activity 
of  the  volitions.  The  former,  inasmuch  as  they  involve 
nothing  beyond  the  observation  of  things  about  us,  or  the 
consideration  of  purely  intellectual  truth,  may  be  called 
contemplative  feelings ;  the  latter,  involving  the  idea  of 
doing  something,  may  be  called  practical. 

(5.)  The  contemplative  feelings  mainly  come  under  what 
are  called  aesthetic  emotions,  and  are  usually  treated  of 


FEELINGS   CLASSIFIED.  251 

under  the  heads  of  sublimity,  beauty,  picturesqueness, 
wit,  and  humor.  This  classification  may  not  satisfy  every 
one  as  being  exhaustive,  and  it  would  be  hazardous  to 
attempt  rigid  definitions  of  these  in  few  words.  They  are 
not,  however,  separately  treated  in  schemes  of  education, 
and  it  is  not  necessary  to  do  more  here  than  simply  to 
refer  to  works  that  treat  especially  upon  these  distinctions. 

(6.)  The  practical  feelings  are,  in  the  main,  more 
easily  distinguished  from  each  other  than  the  contem- 
plative, and  may  be  more  clearly  described ;  and  they  are 
individually  of  great  moment  in  the  development  of  char- 
acter, although  a  logical  and  exhaustive  classification 
would  be  difficult  or  impossible.  There  is  first  a  pleasure 
in  the  consciousness  of  power  to  do.  It  includes  the 
pleasure  of  knowing,  for  in  an  intellectual  sense,  knowl- 
edge is  literally  power,  and  to  ken  is  to  can  or  to  be  able. 
It  is  the  motive  element  in  ambition ;  and  the  love  of 
money  and  of  preferment  largely  depends  upon  it. 

(7.)  Besides  the  pleasure  taken  in  the  general  conscious- 
ness of  power,  pleasure  and  pain  accompany  all  the  exer- 
cises of  the  mind  that  lead  to  voluntary  action.  They 
may  be  classified  as  feelings  that  originate  'in  thoughts 
of  self,  or  feehngs  of  self-concern,  and  feelings  that  origi- 
nate in  thoughts  of  othe;f  s.  These  last  are  again  divided 
into  feelings  that  spring  from  a  sense  of  duty,  the  moral 
feeling,  and  those  that  arise  immediately  from  thoughts  of 
beings  in  whom  we  have  pleasure,  and  for  whom  it  is 
possible  to  do  some  service,  or  feehngs  of  love.  The 
religious  emotions  would  be  mixed  according  to  this  classi- 
fication, most  of  them  belonging  to  the  last  two  classes, 
but  others,  like  awe  and  reverence,  belonging  to  the  con- 
templative feelings,  and  other  emotions  belonging  to  other 
classes. 

This  classification  may  be  tabulated  as  follows : 


252  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

I.  Physical  Feelings. 

1.  Organic. 

2.  Sense-feeling. 

II.   Intellectual  Feelings. 

1.  Contemplative. 

Wonder,  Sublimity,  Beauty,  etc. 

2.  Practical. 

a.  Egoistic. 

(i.)  Sense  of  Power. 
(2.)  Self-concern. 

b.  Altruistic. 

(i.)   Ethical  feelings. 
(2.)  Love  and  Hatred. 

(8.)  The  lowest  feelings  of  the  lowest  class  are  feelings 
of  physical  well-being,  or  a  general  sense  of  happiness  or 
misery,  and  depend  upon  what  is  called  temperament. 
Some  persons  have  such  a  happy  temperament  that  no 
accumulation  of  misfortunes  can  make  them  long  misera- 
ble, or  ever  make  them  despair;  while  others  seem  almost 
to  live  on  the  verge  of  hopelessness,  although  surrounded 
by  the  most  bountiful  supply  of  earthly  comforts,  and  able 
to  enjoy  the  highest  delights  of  taste  and  moral  pleasures. 
As  an  example  of  the  former  class  Dr.  Priestly,  the  dis- 
coverer of  oxygen,  has  been  named.  He  lived  a  happy 
life  and  died  in  peace,  according  to  the  testimony  of  all 
his  friends,  under  an  accumulation  of  misfortunes  which 
has  been  summed  up  as  follows:  "He  lost  his  mother 
when  a  child,  was  brought  up  under  a  most  depressing 
system  of  training,  passed  through  the  severest  changes  of 
religious  thought,  made  an  utter  failure  in  his  profession 
as  preacher,  which  he  left  penniless,  was  flattered  and 
favored  by  a  noble  benefactor  and  then  unceremoni- 
ously cast  off,  saw  his  great  discovery  credited  to  another, 


TEMPERAMENT.  253 

was  attacked  by  a  mob,  from  which  he  barely  escaped, 
with  the  loss  of  home,  library,  and  papers,  was  disowned 
by  the  learned  society  he  had  done  much  to  immortalize, 
and  in  old  age  was  driven  from  his  native  country  to  die 
in  a  foreign  land  where  he  recounted  with  grateful  remem- 
brance for  the  encouragement  of  men  the  great  felicity  he 
had  been  permitted  to  enjoy  throughout  a  long  life." 
His  own  all-sufficient  explanation  was,  ''I  was  born  of  a 
happy  disposition."  Dickens  has  represented  the  same 
disposition  in  the  character  of  Mark  Tapley,  whose  fortune 
was  never  of  the  brightest,  but  whose  good  nature  always 
blossomed  into  jollity  when  his  affairs  were  in  their  worst 
condition.  An  illustration  of  the  other  character  may  be 
seen  in  the  poet  Cowper,  whose  worldly  affairs  were  always 
prosperous,  and  who  enjoyed  the  keenest  intellectual  and 
religious  delights,  but  who,  notwithstanding,  seemed  ever 
depressed  to  the  very  verge  of  suicide.  It  is  evident  from 
such  illustrations  that  these  feelings  are  almost  completely 
dependent  on  physical  organization,  and  that  the  higher 
faculties  are  powerless  to  control  them  directly.  It  is  not 
the  purpose  here  to  treat  of  the  method  of  dealing  with 
these  feelings,  but  to  point  them  out  and  show  how  low 
down  they  are  in  the  scale  of  development  notwithstand- 
ing their  great  influence  in  controlling  conduct.  The 
work  of  the  teacher  in  relation  to  them  will  be  spoken  of 
in  another  place. 

(9.)  The  sense-feelings  have  been  spoken  of  as  begin- 
ning with  the  sense  of  feeling.  Even  if  a  child's  first 
conscious  perception  comes  through  the  eye  this  may  be 
explained  on  other  grounds  than  those  of  the  pleasure  of 
seeing.  The  natural  sensitiveness  of  the  organ  of  vision 
and  the  obtrusiveness  of  the  objects  of  sight  are  enough 
to  account  for  this.  But  observation  shows  that  a  child's 
first  experiments  are  in  trying  to  get  things  into  its  mouth. 


2  54  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

which  may  come  from  the  pleasure  of  gratifying  hunger, 
an  organic  feeling,  and  its  next  experiments  are  with  its 
hands,  in  pulling,  striking,  and  handling  things.  These 
acts  must  be  held  to  indicate  a  development  of  pleasure 
in  the  sense  of  feeling.  That  the  pleasures  of  the  other 
senses  are  developed  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  gen- 
erally named,  beginning  with  feeling,  must  be  a  matter 
of  common  observation. 

(lo.)  The  beginning  of  the  contemplative  feelings,  the 
lowest  of  the  emotions,  is  wonder  or  surprise.  There  is 
such  an  unexpected  combination  of  discoveries,  or  form 
of  discriminating  activity,  that  at  first  all  attempts  at  uni- 
fication are  checked  by  a  sense  of  mental  impotency. 
That  this  feeling  is  contemplative  is  evident  from  its 
being  intellectual  and  not  dependent  upon  any  activity  of 
will  for  its  development.  When  one  sees  what  he  calls  a 
wonderful  sight,  or  hears  a  wonderful  tale,  the  feeling 
has  nothing  in  it  of  a  struggling  attempt  to  decide  or  do 
something.  The  wonder  comes  suddenly,  before  any 
action  can  be  thought  of.  That  the  feeling  is  the  first  of 
the  emotions  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  of  its  early  develop- 
ment in  childhood,  and  from  the  fact  that  a  trace  of  it 
may  be  found  in  the  first  shock  of  each  of  the  other  feel- 
ings of  this  lowest  class  of  emotions.  It  is  quite  strong  in 
the  feelings  arising  from  sublimity,  and  does  not  die  out 
till  the  sense  of  the  sublime  itself  passes  away.  It  can  be 
easily  traced  in  the  sense  of  the  beautiful,  if  the  object  ex- 
cites decided  emotion,  and  the  sense  of  wit  and  humor 
largely  depend  upon  the  play  of  the  feelings  between  won- 
der and  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  an  easy  solution  of  a 
perplexing  difficulty.  Without  making  the  same  classes 
of  the  intellectual  feelings  as  here,  Sully,  Hamilton,  and 
philosophers  generally,  consider  wonder  as  the  lowest  of 
the  emotions  proper. 


CLASSES    OF    FEELINGS    DESCRIBED.  255 

(11.)  The  lowest  of  the  practical  feelings  are  the  egoistic, 
and  it  is  doubtful  if  these  are  ever  entirely  absent  from 
even  the  highest  altruistic  feeling  of  love.  The  lowest  of 
the  egoistic  feelings  is  the  sense  of  power.  This  conscious- 
ness is  developed  at  a  very  early  age,  and  is  probably 
connected  with  the  origin  of  the  notion  of  causality,  per- 
haps its  cause.  If  so,  it  must  begin  near  the  beginning  of 
consciousness.  The  sense  of  muscular  power,  the  pleas- 
ure of  knowledge,  the  pleasure  of  moulding,  directing,  and 
controlling  others,  courage,  and  the  feeling  that  we  can 
work  our  will  and  have  our  way,  are  but  varieties  of  these 
emotions.  These  feelings  are  called  egoistic  because  they 
do  not  necessarily  involve  any  thing  outside  of  ourselves, 
as  in  the  sense  of  muscular  power  and  self-consciousness ; 
and  they  are  not  classed  with  the  feelings  of  self-concern 
because  the  activities  to  which  they  tend  may  have  our- 
selves or  other  objects  equally  well  for  their  end. 

(12.)  The  lowest  of  the  feelings  of  self-concern  is  that 
of  personal  identity.  The  consciousness  of  self  depends 
upon  a  previous  development  of  perception  and  memory, 
and  is  later  than  the  consciousness  of  power,  but  yet  it 
begins  in  infancy.  The  act  of  cognition  in  this  conscious- 
ness is  recognized  and  fully  treated  in  works  on  Psychol- 
ogy. It  gave  rise  to  singular  disputes  in  the  early  history 
of  philosophy,  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  any  one 
ever  seriously  doubted  the  justice  of  the  affirmation 
of  personal  identity  unless  he  doubted  at  the  same  time 
the  grounds  of  all  knowledge.  Nearly  five  hundred  years 
before  Christ,  Herodotus  said  that  all  things  continually 
change,  like  a  river  whose  waters  are  ever  flowing  away 
and  giving  place  to  other  waters  coming  down  from  above. 
It  was  said  that  all  things  lose  their  identity  as  soon  as 
they  come  to  be,  and  other  things  become  to  take  their 
places.     Plutarch  says  it  was  argued  in  his  time  as  a  log- 


256  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

ical  deduction  from  this  principle  that  the  man  who  has 
formerly  received  a  loan  does  not  now  owe,  because  he 
has  become  a  different  person;  and  the  man  who  was  yes- 
terday invited  to  a  feast  comes  to-day  uninvited,  because 
he  has  become  another.  But  these  arguments  he  deems 
absurd,  and  says  without  fear  of  dispute  that  a  man  re- 
mains one  or  identical  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of 
his  life.  But  while  this  principle  of  identity  is  thus  thor- 
oughly established  as  a  cognition,  the  feeling  that  accom- 
panies the  knowing  consciousness  has  received  little  or  no 
recognition.  Yet  it  is  clearly  manifest  amongst  the  other 
early  pleasures  of  infancy.  When  a  child  becomes  inter- 
ested in  its  fist  and  its  foot,  striking  or  kicking  a  hard 
object  with  them,  and  pulling  and  handling  them,  and 
eagerly  seeking  to  learn  if  they  belong  to  itself,  it  must 
be  prompted  by  this  feeling;  and  when  the  fact  is  estab- 
lished, and  it  realizes  that  its  fist  and  foot  are  its  own, 
the  satisfaction  is  shown  by  look  and  gesture,  and  the 
feeling  is  more  permanent  and  more  frequently  recalled 
than  any  other  feeling  developed  at  this  age.  The  same 
characteristics  of  persistency  and  agreeable  interest  are 
found  in  the  acquisition  of  any  new  knowledge.  The 
fact  of  its  being  a  part  of  ourselves  is  a  delight  that  con- 
tinues, and  the  pleasure  keeps  one  recurring  to  it  until  it 
has  become  familiar.  The  feeling  is  practical  in  that  it 
is  developed  only  in  connection  with  the  activity  of  doing, 
while  it  differs  from  the  feeling  of  power  in  that  it  is  asso- 
ciated with  what  has  been  done  rather  than  what  we  are 
able  to  do,  and  it  comes  from  a  consciousness  of  what  we 
are,  rather  than  what  we  can  do.  It  grows  with  accom- 
plished results,  and  may  become  even  disagreeably  strong 
and  obtrusive  in  advanced  age  when  the  sense  of  power 
is  weak.  It  clearly  marks  the  difference  between  the 
actual  assimilation  of  truth  as  a  part  of  the  mental  fiber, 


FEELING    OF    IDENTITY.  257 

and  the  act  of  committing  to  memory  what  is  said  about 
the  truth.  It  is  distinctly  manifest  in  all  our  activities  for 
self-preservation  and  self-defense,  and  in  the  longing  after 
immortality.  It  leads  us  to  desire  to  keep  all  our  powers 
and  possessions,  and  develop  them  to  the  utmost.  It 
makes  us  shudder  at  the  thought  of  annihilation,  or  the 
dissolution  of  the  elements  that  unite  to  make  up  our 
identity,  so  that  no  one  probably  would  be  willing  to 
exchange  his  identity  for  that  of  any  other  created  thing. 
Such  a  choice  would  go  deeper  than  the  choice  of  the 
suicide.  It  is  no  objection  to  the  claims  here  put  forth 
for  this  feeling,  that  we  can  not  tell  precisely  what  con- 
stitutes identity  in  the  abstract,  for  in  the  same  way  no 
one  can  tell  what  constitutes  sublimity  or  beauty,  and  yet 
both  are  recognized  as  facts.  The  feeling  is  specialized 
as  anger,  envy,  pride,  revenge,  hope,  fear,  self-compla- 
cency, vanity,  diffidence,  shame,  remorse,  and  despair. 
The  sense  of  power  is  also  manifest  in  connection  with 
these  feelings  sometimes  in  excess  and  sometimes  as  a  sense 
of  weakness.  When  the  sense  of  power  predominates  as 
often  in  anger,  revenge,  and  remorse,  the  feeling  bursts 
forth  into  violent  passion. 

(13.)  The  lowest  of  the  ethical  feelings  is  the  sense  of  / 
responsibility.  It  is  the  feeling  which  one  has  that  it  will 
make  a  difference  whether  he  does  a  certain  thing  or  not, 
and  that  the  results  will  not  be  altogether  altruistic,  or 
foreign  to  himself,  but  that  they  will  react  upon  the  doer. 
Responsibility  in  general  may  be  distinguished  as  com- 
mercial and  ethical.  The  former  is  judged  without  regard 
to  motive,  and  its  measure  is  the  measure  of  the  effects 
actually  produced ;  the  latter  is  judged  from  the  motive 
that  impels  the  act,  whatever  the  result  may  be,  and  even 
when   the  intended  result   is   thwarted.      But  distinct  as 

these  kinds  of  responsibility  are  in  one  view,  commercial 

s.  E.— 22. 


258  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

responsibility  becomes  moral  also  as  soon  as  an  effect  is 
produced,  and  moral  responsibility  is  commercial  also  to 
the  extent  of  the  effect  actually  reached.  The  sense  of 
responsibility  is  specialized  as  forms  dependent  upon 
special  relations,  such  as  duties  to  a  benefactor,  duties 
to  a  dependent,  duties  to  an  equal,  and  as  forms  depend- 
ent on  general  relations,  such  as  honesty,  truthfulness, 
justice.  In  training  the  moral  faculty  it  is  important  to 
know  where  to  begin.  It  has  been  sought  to  trace  the 
growth  of  moral  conduct  to  a  growing  necessity  for  pa- 
rental care  in  the  evolution  of  animal  life,  in  order  to  per- 
petuate the  species.  This  supposes  the  race  to  be  contin- 
uous from  the  lower  orders  of  animals,  and  if  we  apply 
the  Law  that  development  in  the  individual  follows  the 
same  order  as  development  in  the  race,  it  would  make 
duties  toward  dependents  the  first  duties  of  which  the 
child  should  be  conscious.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  such 
a  result  can  be  reconciled  with  the  facts  observed  in  the 
growth  of  moral  character,  or  with  what  we  would  expect 
from  the  beginning  of  a  child's  life  in  entire  dependence. 
Again,  the  feeling  of  commercial  responsibility  seems  more 
simple  than  that  of  moral  responsibility,  and  therefore  more 
likely  to  be  developed  first.  And  again  it  is  to  this  sense 
we  resort  in  appealing  to  a  child  when  its  moral  sense  is 
dull.  It  is  hoped  the  moral  sense  will  follow.  But  this 
feeling  of  commercial  responsibility  could  scarcely  spring 
from  one's  relations  to  a  dependent  as  a  dependent,  such 
as  a  parent's  relations  to  his  offspring.  From  these  con- 
siderations we  may  consider  that  the  moral  feelings  grow- 
ing out  of  dependent  relations  are  the  lowest,  and  that 
these  spring  first  from  a  sense  of  commercial  responsibility. 
(14.)  Of  the  last  class  of  feelings,  the  emotions  of  love, 
the  lowest  is  sympathy.  This  feeling  alone  is  almost  with- 
out discrimination,  and  is  closely  allied  to  the  physical 


ALTRUISTIC    FEELINGS.  259 

organic  feelings.  Yet,  from  being  a  feeling  merely  induced 
by  the  consciousness  of  another's  suffering,  it  may  grow 
into  friendship,  affection,  love. 

II.  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FEELINGS. 

Law  I, — The  Feelings  are  Developed  from  a  Be- 
ginning IN  Pain. 

First  Proof. — The  lowest  development  of  feeling  in  each 
of  the  classes  is  painful  rather  than  pleasurable.  This 
may  be  seen  by  recalling  them  one  by  one. 

(i.)  The  organic  physical  feehngs  manifest  themselves 
in  the  first  days  of  infancy  entirely  on  the  painful  side. 
Hunger  and  other  painful  disturbances  of  the  nervous 
system  arouse  the  sensibilities,  but  the  absence  of  painful 
sensations  is  like  the  absence  of  all  sensations,  and  the 
child  soon  falls  asleep. 

(2.)  The  sense-feelings  begin  with  the  sense  of  feeling, 
and  this  sensation  evidently  comes  first  into  consciousness 
as  pain. 

(3.)  The  sense  of  wonder  with  which  the  contemplative 
feelings  begin  comes  with  a  shock  of  pain. 

(4.)  The  sense  of  power  comes  with  a  painful  effort  to 
avoid  or  overcome  something  troublesome. 

(5.)  The  consciousness  of  personal  identity  is  developed 
through  a  series  of  perplexing  operations  of  striking,  rub- 
bing, pulling,  and  pinching  hands  and  feet,  by  which  a 
child  painfully  pursues  a  course  of  self-discovery. 

(6.)  The  moral  feelings  are  first  aroused  in  a  sense  of 
wrong  suffered.  The  last  rational  appeal  that  can  be 
made  is  to  ask,  ''How  would  you  like  to  be  treated  so 
yourself?" 

(7.)  Sympathy  is  a  suffering  with  another.     Pleasure  is 


2  6o  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

communicated  by  the  sight  of  happiness,  yet  only  sHghtly 
unless  we  know  the  cause,  but  it  gives  great  pain  to  wit- 
ness pain  without  reference  to  the  cause. 

Second  Proof. — The  first  consciousness  of  a  new  sensa- 
tion or  emotion  is  manifest  in  a  shudder,  or  some  aversion 
or  involuntary  shrinking  from  an  object. 

Observations. 

(I.)  Prof.  Bain  says,  as  quoted  above,  we  are  by  no 
means  to  exult  in  the  fact  that  all  activities  begin  with  a 
painful  feeling.  We  must,  however,  accept  it  as  a  fact 
and  accommodate  our  methods  to  the  truth  involved.  It  is 
not  a  proof  in  itself  that  a  method  of  training  is  wrong,  or 
a  subject  of  instruction  out  of  place,  because  the  method 
involves  pain,  or  the  subject  is  hard.  On  the  contrary, 
we  must  expect  a  certain  amount  of  painful  stimulus  to 
arouse  voluntary  effort  and  to  compel  the  putting  forth  of 
the  last  degree  of  voluntary  strength.  The  pleasure  of 
friendship  or  love  will  lead  to  many  acts  of  self-sacrifice 
and  strong  devotion,  but  the  fear  of  losing  a  friend  will 
compel  to  the  exercise  of  ingenuity  and  energy  that  would 
be  utterly  impossible  under  the  influence  of  pleasure  alone. 
The  most  complete  power  of  self-command  and  the  high- 
est attainments  of  experience  have  come  through  the  deep- 
est sufferings. 

(II.)  Notwithstanding  this  fact,  pain  is  in  its  nature  an 
obstruction  to  activity,  and  changes  its  direction.  Phys- 
ical pain  exhausts  vitality,  and  brings  a  rapid  destruction 
of  the  bodily  organism.  Fear  stops  the  natural  flow  of 
blood,  and  brings  paralysis  of  both  mental  and  physical 
powers.  There  are  cases  where  fear  has  been  the  imme- 
diate cause  of  death.  It  is  said  the  advantage  a  lion  has 
from  its  roar  is  that  it  unnerves  its  prey  and  renders  it 


BEGINNINGS  OF  FEELING  IN  PAIN.  26 1 

incapable  of  escape  or  defense.  It  may  be  that  this  sudden 
check  given  to  the  natural  activity  of  vital  forces  is  what 
arouses  the  unconscious  attention,  and  that  the  increased 
flow  of  energy  when  the  effect  of  pain  is  overcome, 
heightens  the  incipient  wave  of  possible  pleasure,  and  that 
consciousness  comes  in  the  play  between  pain  and  pleas- 
ure, and  is  fixed  upon  the  pain  because  of  its  greater 
suddenness.  Whatever  the  explanation,  however,  two 
conclusions  may  be  rigidly  maintained ;  first,  that  pain  is 
a  means  of  exciting  conscious  activity;  secondly,  that  it 
is  not  to  be  sought  for  its  own  sake. 

(III.)  Two  conclusions  follow  from  the  relation  of  pain 
to  activity :  First,  it  should  be  limited  in  degree  to  the 
amount  required  to  excite  the  activity;  and  secondly,  it 
should  be  adapted  to  the  activity  desired.  In  reference 
to  the  first  conclusion  it  should  be  remembered  that  an 
excess  of  pain  of  any  kind,  as  fear,  shame,  bodily  suffer- 
ing, is  a  preventive  of  the  very  activity  to  be  excited. 
Perhaps  an  exercise  is  demanded  that  will  require  think- 
ing, and  because  the  mind  does  not  work  as  rapidly  or  as 
clearly  as  desired,  it  is  put  by  fear  into  a  state  where  it 
will  not  work  at  all.  The  following  occurence  will  illus- 
trate the  point,  and  while  it  is  only  one  instance,  we  may 
reasonably  fear  it  represents  a  larger  number  of  cases  than 
is  generally  supposed.  A  student,  a  young  man,  reported 
an  apparent  fault  to  his  teacher,  and  was  so  disturbed  that 
he  could  not  make  his  explanation  clear.  The  teacher, 
seeing  the  indirect  way  of  putting  the  circumstances, 
charged  the  pupil  direcdy  with  falsehood,  and  this  so 
terrified  him  that  he  confessed  he  had  not  told  the  truth ; 
and  he  readily  assented  to  whatever  else  was  charged 
against  him.  It  was  afterwards  found  that  the  pupil  had 
been  entirely  honest  and  truthful,  and  he  was  again  called 
to  have  the  mistake  corrected,  and  when  asked  why  he 


262  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

confessed  to  a  falsehood,  he  said  he  was  so  frightened  that 
he  could  not  think,  and  did  not  realize  any  thing  he  said. 
The  difference  in  sensitiveness  between  children  is  very 
great,  and  when  many  are  brought  together  to  be  treated 
as  a  school,  it  requires  the  greatest  care  and  judgment 
to  regulate  the  incentives  of  pain,  and  adapt  them  to 
these  differences  of  individual  character.  While  the  mind 
is  actively  engaged,  the  embarrassment  of  recitation,  the 
fear  of  possible  failure,  and  other  causes  of  anxiety  should, 
in  general,  perhaps  not  always,  be  made  as  small  as  pos- 
sible. In  regard  to  the  second  point,  a  distinction  should 
be  made  between  pain  that  is  meant  to  direct  the  atten- 
tion, and  pain  that  is  designed  to  awaken  interest.  When 
instruction  is  required,  that  is,  in  cases  where  a  child 
fails  in  grasping  or  doing  what  is  desired  through  igno- 
rance, stimulants  of  whatever  kind  should  be  adapted  to 
give  experience  of  the  truth.  If  a  child  fails  to  under- 
stand a  statement,  a  rule,  or  a  definition,  put  him  to  the 
trouble  of  finding  an  example  and  applying  the  statement, 
or  whatever  may  have  been  obscure.  In  all  ordinary 
school  instruction  adaptation  like  this,  where  experience 
not  only  stimulates  activity,  but  illustrates  the  truth  sought, 
is  the  most  important  means  of  education  in  the  hands  of 
the  teacher.  But  when  the  truth  is  known,  and  the  mind 
fails  to  respond  to  it  because  of  insensibility,  something 
more  than  simple  illustration  is  required.  It  may  be  that 
the  mind  is  naturally  sluggish.  In  this  case  an  attempt 
should  be  made  to  cultivate  facility.  A  shock  of  surprise 
may  also  often  be  produced  by  an  antithetic  or  new  way 
of  presenting  the  truth  so  as  to  excite  activity.  It  may 
be  that  insensibility  comes  from  a  bad  disposition  or  per- 
verse will.  This  is  the  case  in  moral  insensibility.  Here 
it  is  impossible  to  give  complete  illustrations,  because  the 
consequences  can  not  all  be  gathered  up,  and  if  it  were 


USES    OF    PAIN    IN    EDUCATION.  263 

possible  to  make  an  offender  experience  all  the  conse- 
quences, the  severity  of  them  would  forbid  their  applica- 
tion for  purposes  of  education.  In  dealing  with  such 
cases,  the  first  effort  should  be  to  check  the  disposition 
to  wrong-doing  by  preventing  the  offender  from  enjoying 
the  results  he  had  hoped  for.  Above  all  things,  if  a  child 
has  committed  one  wrong,  do  not  allow  him  to  enjoy  the 
advantages  that  may  come  from  it  and  escape  its  penalties 
by  committing  another,  like  lying  about  it.  It  is  better 
to  pass  over  many  a  misconduct,  and  leave  a  child  uncer- 
tain whether  or  not  he  has  escaped  notice,  than  to  call 
him  to  account  for  a  suspected  wrong,  and  allow  him  to 
escape  by  deception.  In  the  first  case,  one  disposition  is 
strengthened;  in  the  second,  the  whole  character  is  con- 
taminated. If  enjoyment  of  the  advantages  of  wrong- 
doing can  not  be  prevented,  punishment  outweighing 
this  enjoyment  may  be  inflicted,  and  in  choosing  the  kind 
of  punishment  it  is  well  to  consider  the  character  of  the 
wrong,  but  more  important  to  consider  the  character  of 
the  child.  Having  done  all  that  is  possible  to  check  the 
disposition  to  wrong-doing,  the  second  and  most  persist- 
ent effort  should  be  made  to  establish  the  opposite  dispo- 
sition. This  requires  that  the  child  should  be  brought  to 
experience  the  pleasure  of  right  conduct;  and  the  methods 
to  be  employed  must  be  left  to  the  ingenuity  of  the 
teacher. 

(IV.)  Pain  is  the  lowest  incentive,  and  is  therefore  the 
last  resort.  Higher  methods  of  stimulating  activity  should 
be  sought  first,  but  one  should  not  be  willing  to  give  up 
a  disposition  as  hopeless  until  this  stimulus  is  tried. 
Xenophon  considered  it  a  defect  in  the  character  of  his 
friend  Proxenus,  an  Athenian  general,  that  he  thought  it 
sufficient  in  the  training  of  an  army  ' '  to  praise  those  who 
do  well,  and  not  to  praise  those  who  do  wrong."     That 


264  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

is,  he  relied  on  the  pleasure  of  being  praised  both  as  an 
incentive  to  well-doing,  and  a  hindrance  to  ill-doing. 
If,  however,  pain  is  inflicted,  we  should  watch  with  the 
greatest  solicitude  for  pleasure  to  come  from  the  corrected 
disposition,  for  unless  this  comes  to  encourage  and 
strengthen  right  conduct,  the  pain  will  be  barren  of 
good. 

Law  II. — The  Feelings  are  Elevated  in  Charac- 
ter AS  they  Require  the  Discrimination  of  Vari- 
ety, AND  ARE  Degraded  as  they  Lose  this  Discrim- 
ination OUT  OF  Consciousness. 

First  Proof. — The  intellectual  feelings  or  emotions  in- 
volve a  greater  variety  of  discriminations  than  the  phys- 
ical. The  consciousness  of  a  simple  excitement  in  the 
nervous  system,  answering  only  to  the  exciting  physical 
cause,  is  all  that  is  found  in  sensation.  Intellectual  feel- 
ings require  an  addition  to  the  conception  of  this  cause, — 
the  relation  of  its  parts  and  qualities  to  each  other,  its 
relations  to  self  as  a  cause  of  the  emotion,  its  relations  to 
other  things,  association  with  things  distant  in  time  and 
space,  and  thoughts  of  the  past  and  future. 

Second  Proof. — The  classes  of  sensations  and  emotions 
rise  one  above  another  in  complexity.  The  sense-feelings 
involve  the  consciousness  of  happiness  or  misery  which 
is  found  in  the  lower  organic  sensations,  and  something 
in  addition;  the  intellectual  feelings  involve  the  discrim- 
inations of  the  senses,  and  something  besides;  the  prac- 
tical feelings  involve  the  intellectual, — for  we  properly 
speak  of  moral  sublimity  and  moral  beauty, — and  add 
something  more ;  the  altruistic  feelings  involve  the  egoistic, 
and  something  beyond. 


DISCRIMINATION    IN    FEELING.  265 


Observation. 

In  the  development  of  the  feelings  we  should  pass  from 
the  lower  to  the  higher,  and  seek  the  most  perfect  dis- 
criminations. This  is  demanded  by  the  General  Law  of 
Mental  Development,  that  the  greatest  development  re- 
quires the  greatest  variety  in  unity.  A  general  feeling 
of  happiness  or  misery  should  be  specialized  by  the  senses 
and  located  by  self-consciousness  so  as  to  determine  its 
cause.  This  is  what  a  physician  first  tries  to  do  for  his 
patient,  and  if  he  proceeds  correctly  in  his  diagnosis,  he 
thereby  more  than  half  determines  what  remedies  to  apply. 
If  the  sufferer  from  depression,  irritability,  or  what  is 
called  the  blues,  would  make  a  thorough  and  conscien- 
tious diagnosis  of  his  physical  and  mental  condition,  it 
would  bring  him  far  on  the  way  to  happiness.  The 
stirring  of  his  useful  powers  to  activity,  which  ought  to 
follow  such  a  self-examination,  would  be  a  remedy  to 
restore  complete  mental  equilibrium.  The  ability  to 
appreciate  the  sublime  and  beautiful  in  nature  and  art  is 
a  high  and  noble  power,  and  when  one  has  an  intelligent 
appreciation  that  enables  him  to  hold  in  mind  a  discrim- 
ination of  the  qualities  that  work  together  to  excite  these 
emotions,  as  a  true  critic  of  art  is  able  to  do,  he  has  made 
a  high  attainment.  This  power  to  analyze  the  sublime 
and  beautiful  is  necessary  to  a  high  appreciation  of  them, 
and  it  is  what  every  one  should  seek.  But  it  is  not  and 
can  not  become  the  highest  attainment.  No  one  should 
be  satisfied  to  call  this  his  highest  aim,  however  perfectly 
he  may  be  able  to  discriminate  the  sublime  and  beautiful. 
There  are  higher,  more  complex,  and  more  potent  emo- 
^tions,  to  which  this  power  can  never  grow.  The  demand 
for  the  practical  emotions  is  not  only  to  secure  the  high- 

S.  E.-23. 


266  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

est  ends  of  life,  but  they  are  higher  ends  in  themselves, 
as  they  indicate  a  higher  stage  in  the  development  of  men- 
tal energy.  It  is  true,  the  lowest  forms  of  these  are  not 
of  a  high  character,  but  they  are  the  beginnings  of  emo- 
tions that  lift  the  soul  immeasurably  above  a  merely  con- 
templative or  speculative  life.  The  sense  of  power,  the 
sense  of  self,  and  emotions  of  sympathy  should  not  be  left 
to  expend  energy  without  discrimination.  They  should 
be  developed  till  their  practical  limit  is  reached  in  the 
highest  knowledge,  the  most  complete  command  of  self, 
and  devotion  to  the  highest  ends  of  existence.  When  this 
is  accomplished,  the  development  of  the  feelings  is  at  its 
highest  point  in  the  discrimination  of  variety  in  unity. 
All  the  feelings  begin  in  a  low  type,  and  if  we  stop  with 
this,  our  energy  is  but  poorly  spent.  If  physical  feelings 
fail  to  reach  the  discrimination  of  the  senses,  the  activity 
excited  is  of  little  worth.  If  the  intellect  fail  to  add  its 
recognition  of  causal  relations  and  harmony  to  the  sensa- 
tions of  color  and  sound,  the  senses  furnish  but  little 
pleasure,  and  render  slight  service.  If  the  emotion  of 
wonder  do  not  fade  away  into  the  higher  emotions  of 
sublimity,  beauty,  and  reverence,  it  has  no  fitting  place  in 
the  human  mind.  In  the  same  way  the  sense  of  power, 
self,  and  sympathy  must  rise  above  these  feeHngs  to  the 
highest  emotions,  and  lead  the  will  to  action,  or  they  will 
end  in  unimportant  results. 

Law  III. — Exercise  by  the  Same  Stimulus  Renders 
Feeling  More  Difficult  While  it  Makes  Thought 
and  Volition  More  Easy. 

First  Proof. — The  senses  improve  in  discriminating 
power  by  exercise,  but  they  are  hardened  against  pleasure 
and  pain. 


EFFECT   OF   EXERCISE   ON    FEELINGS.  267 

Second  Proof. — The  emotions  are  less  affected  by  the 
same  tale  or  experience  repeated  again  and  again,  but  a 
habit  of  attending  to  the  things  called  to  mind  makes  our 
understanding  of  them  clearer  and  action  easier. 

Third  Proof. — The  feelings  are  more  easily  moved  in 
childhood  than  in  advanced  life,  but  the  trained  man  can 
understand,  and  command  his  powers,  more  easily  than  a 
child. 

Observations. 

(I.)  The  energy  of  feeling  is  very  abundant  in  child- 
hood, but  if  it  is  squandered  there  will  be  a  dearth  in  old 
age.  Those  who  habitually  make  strong  appeals  to  their 
tastes,  their  appetites  and  their  passions  in  youth  reduce 
the  possibilities  of  enjoyment  in  later  life. 

(II.)  When  the  feelings  are  excited  to  secure  a  higher 
end  the  lowest  degree  of  feeling  that  will  secure  it  should 
be  sought.  If  the  physical  system  is  to  be  stimulated  by 
medicine  to  arouse  it  to  greater  vigor,  the  lowest  stimulus 
that  will  accomplish  this  should  be  used,  or  stimulants  will 
lose  their  power.  Rewards  and  punishments  should  be 
measured  by  the  standard  of  individual  character  and 
disposition.  Impartiality  does  not  require  that  every  child 
in  a  class  should  be  treated  like  every  other  child.  The 
sense  of  justice  is  keener  and  more  discriminating  than 
any  law.  If  a  teacher  is  manifesdy  seeking  individual 
good,  his  skill  in  adapting  means  to  this  end  will  raise  him 
higher  in  the  estimation  of  his  school  than  the  rigid  en- 
forcement of  an  inflexible  rule.  Sometimes  a  frown  is 
more  than  a  child's  heart  can  bear.  Incentives  should  be 
adapted  to  cases,  as  a  physician  adapts  medicine  to  con- 
stitution and  temperament,  as  a  machinist  applies  power 
at  the  point  of  resistance,  in  order  that  the  end  may  be 
accomplished  with  the  least  waste  of  emotion. 


^268  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

(III.)  As  pupils  advance  in  age,  less  should  be  made 
of  the  emotions  and  stronger  appeals  should  be  made  to 
the  intelligence  and  reason.  A  difference  should  also  be 
made  in  the  kind  of  motives  appealed  to.  The  higher 
grades  should  be  more  and  more  called  into  exercise. 

Law  IV. — The  Office  of  the  Feelings  in  Mental 
Development  is  to  Stimulate  the  Will  Either  in 
Directing  the  Attention  or  Leading  to  Active 
Voluntary  Endeavor. 

First  Proof. — It  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  the  laws 
of  attention  and  the  consciousness  of  motives,  to  show 
that  the  feelings  do  direct  the  attention  and  lead  to  vol- 
untary action. 

Second  Proof. — That  the  feelings  have  an  end  beyond 
themselves  in  mental  development  is  seen  from  the  fact 
that  they  are  transitory,  while  the  voluntary  thought  and 
action  to  which  they  lead  are  permanent.  A  feeling  can 
not  be  prolonged  beyond  a  limited  time,  and  can  not  be 
renewed  by  direct  memory.  To  enjoy  it  again,  the 
causes  of  the  feeling  must  be  renewed  either  in  experience 
or  by  the  imagination.  The  most  that  can  be  said  of 
the  permanency  of  feeling  is,  that  experience  renders  the 
mind  more  susceptible  to  feelings  of  a  certain  kind.  But 
thought  and  volition  are  permanent  mental  products. 

Third  Proof. — It  need  not  be  denied  that  happiness  is 
an  end  in  itself.  Other  results  are  ends  in  themselves, 
and  have  at  the  same  time  a  higher  end.  The  tree  sub- 
serves many  ends  besides  that  of  bearing  fruit,  and  the 
highest  end  of  the  tree  in  the  vegetable  world  is  to  bear 
fruit.  That  happiness  is  not  the  chief  end  of  pleasure, 
nor  misery  of  pain  in  the  constitution  of  the  human 
mind,  and  that  the  pain  and  pleasure  of  voluntary  thought 


OFFICE    OF    FEELINGS.  269 

and  action  are  not  the  end  of  these  activities,  but  rather 
that  these  activities  are  the  end  of  feeling,  is  evident  from 
the  last  Law.  If  the  human  mind  were  constituted  to 
secure  pleasure  as  the  chief  end,  and  thought  and  voli- 
tion were  developed  to  secure  this  end,  exercise  ought  to 
make  the  attainment  of  this  end  more  easy,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  law  of  skill,  but  the  reverse  is  the  fact,  as 
has  been  shown.  To  secure  the  same  degree  of  feeling  a 
second  time,  a  greater  expenditure  of  effort  is  required. 
The  exercise  of  thought  and  action,  on  the  contrary, 
makes  these  activities  possible  with  less  emotion.  Exer- 
cise develops  higher  grades  of  feeling  corresponding  to  the 
higher  discriminating  power  of  thought  produced,  but  the 
degree  of  each  particular  feeHng  follows  the  Law,  so  long 
as  discrimination  remains  the  same. 

Observations. 

(L)  One  of  the  first  motives  to  be  used  with  children  is 
the  love  of  approbation.  Dr.  Howe  reported  of  Laura 
Bridgman,  that  during  the  first  year  of  her  development 
with  him,  she  would  playfully  make  mistakes  with  one 
hand  and  strike  it  with  the  other,  and  often  pat  herself 
on  the  head,  which  was  the  sign  of  approbation,  when  she 
performed  work  correctly.  When  we  think  how  almost 
utterly  incapable  of  thought  she  was  at  the  beginning  of 
the  year,  and  what  obstacles  she  had  to  overcome  to  gain 
any  ideas,  we  may  see  how  early  in  a  child's  develop- 
ment this  stimulus  takes  a  fixed  position  among  the  mental 
forces. 

(IL)  The   sense   of   power  is   called  by    Prof.    Bain  a 
motive  of  the  first  order.     It  is  developed  very  early,  and 
retains  its  effectiveness  as  long   as  the  active  powers  of 
life  continue    unimpaired.       The    oft-quoted   remark    of 


270  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

Virgil,  ** Success  gives  these  strength;  they  can  because 
they  think  they  can,"  touches  upon  a  motive  that  kindles 
enthusiasm  alike  in  youth  and  manhood.  It  is  a  motive, 
too,  that  can  scarcely  be  abused,  unless,  indeed,  it  leads 
to  overexertion.  It  is  cultivated  first,  by  leading  children 
to  succeed  in  their  attempts;  secondly,  by  allowing  them 
to  succeed;  and  thirdly,  by  allowing  them  to  enjoy  such 
success  as  they  are  capable  of.  A  recitation  in  which  a 
pupil  feels  he  has  taken  ground  that  he  can  hold  gives 
this  pleasure.  A  public  declamation  or  other  exercise 
gives  this  consciousness  in  a  high  degree,  when  well  per- 
formed, and  such  exercises  would  be  justified  by  this 
result  alone  if  nothing  else  were  gained.  It  takes  away 
this  pleasure  to  help  a  child  over  the  last  step  of  any 
process  of  thought  with  a  ''Don't  you  see  this  is  so?" 
or  **Is  not  this  true?"  It  makes  a  partial  failure  nearly 
as  bad  as  total  failure  when,  instead  of  mixing  praise  with 
blame,  a  teacher  fails  to  recognize  the  good  work  actually 
done,  and  only  finds  fault  with  what  has  not  been  done. 
If  a  child  has  done  well  for  him,  he  is  deserving  of 
praise,  no  matter  how  much  better  some  one  else  might 
have  done  the  same  thing. 

(III.)  Much  has  been  said  both  for  and  against  prizes. 
That  they  are  a  stimulus  to  exertion  can  not  be  doubted. 
They  are  tangible.  They  are  more  constant  in  their  influ- 
ence than  most  other  motives.  The  energies  promptly 
and  vigorously  respond  to  them  at  any  and  all  times. 
Again,  they  are  most  like  the  common  aims  of  practical 
life.  They  are  a  sure  and  definite  reward  for  a  specified 
work.  But  the  very  fact  of  their  universal  adaptation 
places  them  at  once  in  the  category  of  a  low  grade  of 
stimulus,  inasmuch  as  that  which  is  universally  recognized 
as  a  stimulus  must  be  primitive;  and  unlike  the  stimulus 
of  the  higher  emotions,  which  begin  early  in  feeble  force, 


PRIZES.  271 

there  is  no  growing  development  in  the  character  of  this 
stimulus.  It  always  means  one  thing,  nothing  more.  The 
advantages  of  the  prize  may  almost  be  summed  up  in  a 
single  word,  it  is  a  cheap,  effective  stimulus,  that  does  not 
require  the  constant  anxiety,  attention,  and  watchfulness 
of  other  motives.  Its  evils  may  be  summed  up  with  equal 
brevity.  It  is  a  stimulus  of  low  grade,  and  the  energy  it 
excites  is  easily  directed  into  any  channel  tending  either  to 
good  or  bad  results. 

If  it  be  said  that  the  temptations  of  the  prize  system  are 
precisely  the  same  as  those  of  actual  life,  it  may  be  an- 
swered that  it  is  the  office  of  the  family  and  the  school  to 
shield  the  child  against  the  temptations  of  life  until 
strength  is  developed  to  meet  them.  It  would  poorly 
comport  with  this  purpose,  to  introduce  an  artificial  stim- 
ulus to  do  the  work  of  temptations  against  which  the  school 
seeks  to  be  a  safeguard. 

But  still  prizes  are  effective.  If  it  is  thought  this  ad- 
vantage outweighs  all  the  evils  attendant  upon  them,  they 
should  be  awarded,  so  far  as  possible,  to  stimulate  progress 
or  excellence  rather  than  victory  over  others;  and  lead  to 
further  exertion  in  the  same  direction  after  they  have  been 
won.  The  last  purpose  is  well  met  when  money  is  given 
for  excellence  in  a  special  pursuit,  to  be  spent  in  further 
acquirements  of  the  same  kind  as  those  by  which  the  prize 
has  been  gained. 

(IV.)  The  sense  of  responsibiHty  is  among  the  noblest  > 
of  the  emotions,  and  is  a  powerful  stimulus  to  correct 
moral  conduct,  as  well  as  to  mental  activity  in  general. 
Children  should  be  made  responsible  for  keeping  their 
books  and  other  things  in  order,  and  in  place.  Every 
child  should  have  some  responsibility  placed  upon  him  to 
draw  out  his  better  nature.  Until  a  sense  of  responsi- 
bility is  felt,  a  child  does  nothing  except  in  a  desultory 


272  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

way;  and  many  persons  never  rise  above  this  method  of 
work,  because  responsibility  rests  so  lightly  upon  them. 
They  do  things  when  and  as  they  like;  or,  if  inclination 
leads  another  way,  not  at  all.  This  is  very  pure  selfish- 
ness. Yet  there  is  a  delight  higher  than  selfish  pleasure, 
when  one  has  the  consciousness  of  holding  great  interests  in 
his  hands  for  the  proper  care  of  which  he  may  be  praised, 
and  for  the  neglect  of  which  he  ought  to  be  blamed. 

(V.)  Conscience  is  an  intellectual  feeling  like  the  other 
emotions.  It  is  not  in  place  here  to  raise  questions  as  to 
its  origin  or  authority.  It  stands  on  the  same  ground 
with  the  other  emotions.  When  we  attempt  to  analyze 
a  cognition,  and  determine  what  is  right  and  what  is 
wrong,  the  analysis  may  be  imperfect,  but  this  does  not 
reflect  on  the  reality  of  conscience,  as  it  does  not 
reflect  on  the  reality  of  taste  that  beauty  can  not  be 
analyzed  and  its  elements  pigeon-holed.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  may  be  said  for  conscience  that  its  first  distinct 
recognition  is  lost  in  antiquity,  its  development  preceded 
the  development  of  mathematical  sciences  and  the  fine 
arts,  and  its  discriminations  have  been  more  universally 
accepted  as  true  than  those  of  any  other  mental  science  or 
of  physics.  It  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  this  is  true,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  the  seeming  interests  and  the 
passions  of  men  have  thrown  every  kind  of  obstacle  in  its 
way,  and  men  have  continually  wrought  to  break  down 
the  barriers  it  sets  to  vice  and  crime.  It  follows  from 
this  that  conscience  is  to  be  developed  early  and  held  as 
one  of  the  most  trustworthy  forces  of  the  mind.  It  is  to 
be  developed  both  as  a  pleasure  and  a  pain,  and  exer- 
cised in  both  these  aspects  in  regard  to  one's  own  conduct 
and  that  of  others.  The  clearness  of  conscience  is  not 
easily  obscured,  but  its  authority  will  prevail  nearly  in 
proportion  to  the  weight  it  is  seen  to  have  with  parents 


CONSCIENCE.  273 

and  teachers.  Children  may  not  practice  the  same  viola- 
tions,— this  will  depend  on  their  inclinations, — but  if 
others  who  claim  authority  over  them  do  not  recognize 
the  authority  of  conscience,  they  will  themselves  pay  little 
heed  to  it.  It  is  a  matter  of  die  first  importance  that  the 
supremacy  of  conscience  should  be  held  inviolable.  It  is 
said  that  Dr.  Arnold  would  not  consent  that  even  the  king 
should  assume  superiority  to  him  in  his  school-room, 
fearing  the  effect  such  a  treatment  of  his  authority  might 
have  upon  his  pupils.  The  world  has  praised  his  wisdom. 
But  the  harm  would  have  been  slight  compared  with  the 
moral  devastation  that  comes  when  the  authority  of  con- 
science is  broken  down  by  precept  or  example. 

(VI.)  It  has  already  been  observed  that  degeneration 
through  the  feelings  is  the  most  important  cause  of  the 
waste  of  energy.  Unless  activity  takes  a  permanent 
form,  the  energy  excited  is  dissipated;  as  heat  coming 
from  the  sun  to  the  earth  is  dissipated,  unless  it  develops 
the  growing  tree  or  ripening  fruit,  or  becomes  a  moving 
force.  The  laws  of  the  feelings  show  them  to  be  vola- 
tile, and  unless  they  develop  forms  of  thought  and  action 
that  fix  the  energy  aroused,  and  make  it  available  for-^ 
future  use,  the  activity  will  be  lost.  The  order  of  devel- 
opment is  given  in  the  classification  of  the  feelings,  and 
the  battle  of  life  should  be  fought  through  when  begun, 
from  its  beginning  in  pain  and  indistinct  pleasure  to  the 
full  and  discriminating  consciousness  of  the  true  and 
beautiful  in  being,  and  the  fitting  and  good  in  action.  It 
is  a  struggle  upward,  a  reaching  after  that  which  is  higher, 
nobler,  better.  Feeling  will  not  grow  into  thought  and 
action  of  itself.  We  must  will  to  think  and  act.  If  we 
fail  to  put  forth  this  voluntary  effort,  every  thing  that  is 
done  for  us  will  be  wasted.  Even  the  emotions  them- 
selves will  drop  from  higher  to  lower  forms  through  the 


2  74  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

less  and  less  discriminating  forms,  and  finally  end  in  un- 
consciousness. The  physical  feelings  should  not  pass 
away  until  clear  perceptions  are  formed.  The  pleasures 
of  taste^hould  develop  a  definite  and  clear  understanding 
of  the  beautiful  and  sublime.  The  pains  and  pleasures 
of  the  practical  feelings  should  not  end  except  in  action. 
When  a  practical  feeling  produces  only  a  pleasurable  sen- 
sation and  no  volition,  the  mental  powers  degenerate  into 
irresolution  and  indifference.  Literature  has  this  distinc- 
tion clearly  marked.  Some  writers  are  stimulating,  others 
sedative.  An  examination  will  show  the  difference  to  be 
due  to  the  amount  of  discriminating  activity  excited.  One 
class  of  authors  so  present  thought  that  we  distinguish  it 
in  its  elements,  which  we  put  together  into  combinations 
new  to  us;  while  the  other  class  present  it  either  indis- 
tinctly or  in  forms  already  familiar.  They  may  excite 
pleasure,  but  lead  to  no  fresh  thought.  Under  such  an 
influence  the  mind  loses  distinctness  of  consciousness,  and 
tends  to  inactivity.  Longfellow  sets  forth  this  diff"erence 
in  his  poem  The  Day  is  Done. 

"  Come  read  to  me  some  poem, 
Some  simple  and  heartfelt  lay, 
That  shall  soothe  this  restless  feeling, 
And  banish  the  thoughts  of  day. 

*'Not  from  the  grand  old  masters, 
Not  from  the  bards  sublime. 
Whose  distant  footsteps  echo 
Through  the  corridors  of  time. 

"For,  like  strains  of  martial  music, 
Their  mighty  thoughts  suggest 
Life's  endless  toil  and  endeavor, 
And  to-night  I  long  for  rest. 


DEGRADATION    OF    FEELINGS.  275 

'*  Read  from  some  humble  poet, 

Whose  songs  gushed  from  the  heart, 
As  showers  from  the  clouds  of  summer, 
Or  tears  from  the  eyelids  start." 


"  Such  songs  have  power  to  quiet 

The  restless  pulse  of  care, 

And  come  like  the  benediction 

That  follows  after  prayer." 

Distirxtness  of  thought  is  lost  and  the  cares  go  with  it. 
This  is  desirable  to  one  seeking  repose,  but  not  to  one 
who  does  not  need  rest. 

(VII.)  As  the  casual  reading  of  certain  kinds  of  liter- 
ature weakens  the  intellectual  vigor  temporarily,  so  a 
habit  of  such  reading  will  permanently  lower  the  grade 
of  the  intellect.  The  mind  should  be  stimulated  with  the 
strongest  food  it  will  bear.  Not  all  the  injury  done  to  the 
young  by  reading  is  done  by  what  are  called  bad  books. 
Much  of  what  is  called  moral  and  religious  reading,  by 
being  deficient  in  the  power  of  positive  good  exerts  an 
enfeebling  influence  that  is  only  less  injurious  than  the 
development  of  vicious  tendencies.  This  dilution  of  ad- 
vice and  instruction  degrades  them  to  the  level  of  mere 
cant  in  their  effect  upon  the  mind. 

(VIII.)  A  similar  difference  exists  in  the  intercourse  of 
different  companions,  and  in  the  influence  of  different 
teachers  over  their  pupils.  Those  who  depend  upon  the 
sympatlietic  emotions  mainly  as  a  stimulus  to  exertion  or 
right  conduct,  produce  but  a  weak  mind  and  a  weak  moral 
character.  Children  who  are  never  required  to  do  any 
thing  unless  they  feel  like  it,  will  never  feel  like  doing  any 
thing  that  will  give  a  vigorous  and  manly  mind. 

(IX.)  The  tendency  of  the  feelings  to  dissipate   intel- 


276  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

lectual  force  is  well  illustrated  in  the  closing  events  of 
Mark  Antony's  strange  career.  He  appears  to  have  de- 
veloped an  ability  at  the  time  of  Caesar's  death  that  would 
easily  have  placed  him  at  the  head  of  Roman  affairs.  He 
was  an  orator,  a  shrewd  politician,  and  confessedly  the 
first  general  in  the  army.  But  when  the  beauty  of  Cleo- 
patra won  his  homage,  he  flung  away  his  Roman  pride, 
his  love  of  dominion,  his  military  glory,  and  all  his  intel- 
lectual greatness,  and  let  the  reins  of  government  and  the 
means  of  self-defense  slip  from  his  nerveless  hands  almost 
without  a  struggle.  Had  he  been  overcome  by  his  enemy 
while  bravely  doing  his  best  he  would  not  have  so  fallen 
from  the  lofty  pedestal  of  fame  he  had  built  for  himself, 
but  when  his  energies  all  degenerated  into  wanton  pleas- 
ure, he  was  shorn  of  his  strength  and  died  ignobly. 

(X.)  Love  is  the  climax  of  the  feelings,  and  it  should 
comprehend  all  the  interests  and  command  all  the  powers 
of  the  mind.  To  do  this  the  objects  of  its  devotion  must 
be  able  to  unite  all  the  discriminations  of  the  mind  in 
harmony,  and  elicit  all  its  active  powers.  Love  of  hu- 
manity, love  of  country,  love  of  children,  has  led  to  the 
development  of  the  noblest  lives.  But  when  mere  pleas- 
ure becomes  the  end  of  love,  it  corrupts  all  the  other 
powers,  and  the  pleasure  itself  at  last  will  pall.  To  be 
worthy  to  stand  at  the  head  of  the  feelings,  love  should 
be  prepared  to  undertake  all  duties  and  endure  all  suffer- 
ings. Attachment  to  any  thing  seems  a  slight  affair  at 
first,  but  experience  reveals  the  deeper  truth  in  time. 

I  mocked  at  Love  ! 
Love  seemed  a  little  thing : 

"A  small,  blind  god;"  I  said,  "with  golden  wing, 
For  these  poor  poets  to  adore  and  sing  ; 
Their  stock  in  trade  which  has  its  price  to  bring." 
I  did  not  know. 


LOVE    AND    ACTIVITY.  277 

I  looked  on  Love ! 
Ah  me !     I  mocked  no  more. 
Within  his  hand  a  flaming  sword  he  bore ; 
His  eyes  were  great,  and  sad,  and  prone  before 
Him  in  the  dust  I  lay,  lamenting  sore. 
"Great  Love,"  I  cried,  "Master  forevermore ! 
I  know,  I  know." 

•'  Forgive,"  I  prayed. 
•'No  wings  are  mine,"  he  said; 
"My  bleeding  feet  pass  on  with  weary  tread 
Whithersoever  I  am  sadly  led  ; 
The  poet  sings  but  when  his  heart  has  bled. 
Dost  thou  not  know?" 

"1  mock  no  more, 
Great  Love,  but  hear  my  cry; 
Give  me  the  pang,  the  woe,  the  bitter  sigh, 
Hear  me  in  pity,  hear  me,  lest  I  die. 
Let  me  bear  all,  so  Love  pass  me  not  by, 
Since  Love  I  know." 

— Mrs.  Burnett. 

\ 
(XL)  That  love  develops  in  accordance  with  the  gen- 
eral law  of  exercise,  and  that  the  exercise  it  requires  is  a 
voluntary  service  may  be  seen  in  the  growth  of  patriotism. 
After  a  time  of  long  continued  peace,  the  emotion  of  1 
patriotism  will  seem  to  have  almost  died  out  from  amongst 
a  people.  But  when  danger  threatens  and  there  is  a  call 
to  arms,  the  spirit  of  devotion  to  one's  native  land  scarcely 
sets  bounds  to  the  sacrifices  it  is  willing  to  make.  It 
places  one  in  vital  relations  with  a  circle  wider  than  kin- 
dred, and  with  generations  yet  unborn  who  will  not  be 
mimindful  of  the  deeds  of  heroes.  Thus  the  development 
of  the  feelings  to  their  fullest  power  and  in  their  highest 
form,  leads  to  the  necessary  recognition  of  a  personality 
outside  ourselves,  worthy  the  exercise  of  all  our  energy  in 
his  service. 


278  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 


III.    OBSERVATIONS  ON  SOME  SPECIAL  FEELINGS. 

(i.)  Medicines  of  all  kinds  stand  upon  the  apothecary's 
shelf  ready  to  be  dealt  out  at  the  call  of  any  customer. 
But  some  kinds  of  medicine  may  not  be  sold  until  they 
have  been  marked  "Poison."  In  a  manner  equally 
striking  some  of  the  emotions  should  be  marked  whenever 
they  are  presented  for  use  in  education.  Among  these 
are  those  emotions  of  self-concern  known  as  malevolent 
feelings.  Their  end  is  to  do  harm.  Anger,  envy,  re- 
venge, and  so  forth,  are  to  be  eradicated.  While  no 
panacea  for  the  vices  growing  out  of  these  feelings  can 
be  suggested,  a  careful  study  of  the  laws  of  mind  in  ac- 
cordance with  which  they  are  developed  will  suggest  many 
useful  hints  with  regard  to  their  treatment. 

(2.)  First,  taking  a  hint  from  the  Law  of  Growth  by 
exercise,  they  may  be  checked  by  preventing  their  indul- 
gence. It  will  be  remembered  they  are  practical  feelings. 
They  are  not  brought  into  complete  exercise  so  as  to  se- 
cure a  unified  or  permanent  product  except  as  they  per- 
suade the  will  to  action.  If  they  fall  short  of  this,  they 
drop  like  immature  fruit,  exhausting  mental  energy  some- 
what, but  terminating  in  unproductive  results.  In  many 
cases  all  possibility  of  accomplishing  a  malevolent  desire 
may  be  so  manifestly  removed  as  to  check  th^ emotion.  In 
other  cases  an  effort  fully  made  may  be  thwarted  in  its 
effect,  and  thus  the  malevolent  pleasure  expected  will  be 
prevented,  and  the  tendency  to  repetition  checked.  When 
neither  of  these  means  can  be  employed,  as  a  final  resort 
some  kind  of  punishment  may  be  inflicted  that  will  counter- 
balance the  malevolent  pleasure. 

(3.)  Secondly,  a  child  may  be  kept  away  from  things 
likely  to  excite  these  feelings.     Whenever  there  is  reason 


MALEVOLENT    FEELINGS.  279 

to  fear  the  feelings  can  not  be  controlled,  this  should  be 
done  if  possible,  for  their  exercise  is  sure  to  develop  a 
tendency  toward  their  indulgence. 

(4.)  Thirdly,  to  avoid  all  causes  that  may  excite  these 
emotions  would  not  be  possible  if  it  were  desirable,  and  it 
would  not  be  desirable  if  possible.  These  causes  are  the 
first  to  excite  in  a  decided  form  painful  intellectual  emo- 
tions, and  thus  they  answer  the  conditions  of  exciting 
intellectual  activity.  If  we  examine  the  history  of  mental 
growth,  we  shall  see  that  these  causes  are  in  reality  the 
first  to  stir  the  mind  to  intense  effort.  As  one  advances 
in  years  besought  to  be  moved  by  higher  impulses,  but 
the  child  must  pass  through  the  lower  stages.  It  is  not 
the  same,  it  does  not  mean  the  same  thing,  for  a  child 
as  for  a  man  to  become  angry.  The  causes  of  such  ex- 
citement should  be  used  for  a  child's  good.  If  properly 
used,  they  will  lead  to  a  higher  development  than  can  be 
otherwise  attained.  If  in  seeking  to  check  the  evil  mani- 
festations of  these  feelings  they  are  so  treated  as  to  check 
all  activity  through  intense  fear  or  suffering  from  punish- 
ment, the  mind  will  be  dwarfed.  The  uncontrolled  in- 
dulgence of  passion  is  not  to  be  allowed,  but  there  will 
be  some  period  during  the  excitement  of  the  mind  when 
its  activity  may  be  directed,  and  when  it  may  make 
larger  gains  in  moral  and  intellectual  power  than  can  be 
secured  by  any  amount  of  mere  instruction.  Men  of  the 
strongest  characters  are  often,  if  not  generally,  those  who 
have  been  known  in  youth  for  the  possession  of  strong 
passions.  The  earlier  these  can  be  subdued,  the  better,  if 
subdued  wisely,  not  brutally,  for  the  longer  indulged, 
the  more  they  will  dominate  character,  and  they  them- 
selves are  not  only  not  useful, — they  are  positively  harm- 
ful. But  in  seeking  to  suppress  them  the  energy  aroused 
should  be  turned  to  account. 


28o  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

(5.)  Fourthly,  the  treatment  of  the  malevolent  feelings 
involves  the  consideration  of  two  uses  to  be  made  of  the 
mental  stimulus  that  causes  them.  First,  they  may  be  so 
controlled  and  directed  as  to  impress  more  strongly  the 
value  of  their  opposites;  and  secondly,  they  are  designed 
to  develop  the  higher  forms  of  thought  and  emotion. 
The  malevolent  feelings  arise  from  the  sense  of  personal 
identity.  A  child's  peace  or  happiness  is  disturbed;  he 
has  been  struck,  or  he  has  fallen  and  hurt  himself;  this 
makes  him  feel  that  his  personality  has  been  invaded;  he 
is  crippled  in  his  will,  and  his  anger  rises.  Or,  he  sees 
another  child  enjoy  some  happiness  or  advantage  denied 
to  himself,  and  his  sense  of  deficiency  leads  to  envy.  He 
is  in  possession  of  something  of  which  he*  would  be  de- 
prived if  he  should  tell  of  all  the  circumstances  about  it; 
he  thinks  to  defend  himself  by  lying,  and  a  spirit  of  men- 
dacity springs  up  in  his  mind.  In  all  such  cases  the  child 
should  be  made  to  see  that  the  gratification  of  his  feelings 
would  antagonize  the  better  part  of  self,  that  they  are  in- 
consistent with  his  highest  good,  that  they  are  at  war  with 
a  personality  he  himself  knows  to  be  of  more  consequence 
to  him  than  they  are,  that  he  ought  to  be  above  them, 
that  they  are  unworthy  of  him.  By  contrast  he  may  be 
made  to  see  more  clearly  and  feel  more  keenly  the  value 
of  the  nobility  placed  in  his  keeping.  The  strongest  ap- 
peal that  can  be  made  to  a  child  to  lead  it  to  confess  a 
falsehood  is,  generally,  a  mother's  love.  It  is  the  most 
pleasurable  possession  of  his  memory.  When  he  sees  how 
a  lie  will  wound  that  love  and  make  him  unworthy  to 
cherish  its  memory,  he  will  suffer  almost  any  thing  rather 
than  leave  that  stain  upon  his  character.  In  the  examina- 
tion of  cases  arising  in  an  extensive  experience,  it  has 
been  found  that  three  times  out  of  four,  when  every  other 
motive  has  failed,  an  appeal  to  a  mother's  love  has  brought 


MALEVOLENT    FEELINGS.  251 

to  the  confession  of  falsehood.  For  the  sake  of  the  com- 
plete consciousness  of  contrast  a  clear  confession  of  wrong 
should  be  made,  for  clearness  of  conception  requires  dis- 
tinct forms  of  expression  in  general,  and  the  mind  is  espe- 
cially likely  to  hide  in  indistinctness  a  disagreeable  truth. 
Worse  than  all  is  it  to  allow  faults  to  be  covered  up  by 
half-confessions,  which  are  accepted  as  the  whole  truth. 

(6.)  A  second  use  to  be  made  of  the  stimulus  to  malev- 
olent feelings  is  the  development  of  the  higher  emotions. 
An  injury  that  will  excite  anger  may  call  forth  the  sense 
of  justice.  Perhaps  it  is  the  first  experience  that  calls  this 
important  emotion  into  consciousness,  and  it  gives  tone 
and  strength  to  this  sense  when  once  developed.  That 
which  excites  envy  may  stir  a  healthy  emulation,  and 
arouse  the  most  intense  effort  toward  the  highest  possible 
degree  of  success  and  excellence.  The  very  existence  of 
envy  is  an  evidence  of  the  perception  of  a  higher  excel- 
lence of  character  or  possessions  than  is  attained  by  the 
envious  child,  and  this  perception  may  induce  the  desire 
to  bring  down  the  more  fortunate  child  to  the  level  of  the 
less  fortunate,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  lead  to  the 
formation  of  a  high  and  noble  ideal  and  to  a  struggle  to 
reach  it.  The  one  tendency  should  be  opposed,  the  other 
fostered.  Not  only  does  a  restrained  feeHng  which  tends 
toward  malevolence  have  a  great  value  in  bringing  the 
higher  emotions  into  consciousness,  but  it  gives  intensity 
to  this  consciousness,  and  renders  the  disposition  to  en- 
force one's  judgment  of  evil  more  determined.  Restrained 
anger  gives  a  clearer  consciousness  of  justice  than  any 
merely  intellectual  apprehension  of  it,  and  a  proper  spirit 
of  emulation,  or  the  enthusiasm  kindled  by  witnessing  il- 
lustrious examples  of  success  in  others  is  one  of  the  most 
important  elements  of  successful  endeavor.     In  a  similar 

way  other  malevolent  feelings  should  be  displaced  by  the 
s.  E.— 24. 


282  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

higher  emotions,  and  used,  when  aroused,  to  heighten 
noble  and  virtuous  impulses.  It  need  hardly  be  added 
that  a  teacher  who  is  rnoved  deeply  by  conduct  that  may 
excite  such  feelings  as  anger  is  recognized  as  a  more  posi- 
tive opponent  of  wrong  if  he  be  self-restrained  than  one 
that  is  stolidly  indifTerent,  but  if  he  gives  way  to  passion 
he  instandy  loses  his  vantage  ground  and  places  himself  in 
the  power  of  others. 

(7.)  Fifthly,  there  are  other  emotions  which,  although 
not  malevolent,  are  little  less  liable  to  do  harm,  and  they 
should  receive  a  warning  signal.  Chief  among  them  are 
the  feelings  of  self-consciousness  and  sympathy.  First, 
there  are  the  feelings  of  self-consciousness,  which  belong 
to  the  general  sense  of  personal  identity.  A  strongly  de- 
veloped self-consciousness  is  a  great  weakness.  On  one 
side  it  is  the  fruitful  source  of  vanity,  pride,  and  rashness; 
on  the  other  side,  of  diffidence,  indecision,  and  supersti- 
tion. These  are  all  weak  points  of  character  which  should 
be  forufied  and  guarded.  To  think  too  much  about 
one's  self  is  likely  to  produce  too  great  self-confidence  or 
too  great  self-distrust.  The  victim  of  such  thoughts  will 
either  become  arrogant  or  fearful,  and  a  half-believer  in 
any  thing  rather  than  a  whole-hearted  believer  in  the  high- 
est conclusions  of  reason.  Confidence  in  self  should  be 
cultivated  and  a  due  esteem  should  be  given  to  the  knowl- 
edge one  has,  but  these  should  be  mainly  used  to  heighten 
effort  and  confidence  in  the  value  of  attainments  yet  to  be 
made. 

(8.)  The  second  of  these  feelings,  sympathy,  is  the 
basis  of  the  highest  emotions,  emotions  that  lead  to  the 
highest  endeavors.  But  it  is  so  much  easier  to  stop  with 
sympathy  than  develop  an  active  benevolence  that  there 
is  the  greatest  danger  of  expending  all  one's  energy  upon 
it,  and  bringing  nothing  good  to  pass.     If  a  surgeon  in- 


SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS    AND    SYMPATHY.  283 

dulged  his  sympathy  for  suffering  patients  to  the  extent 
of  unnerving  his  arm  at  the  sight  of  blood,  his  surgery 
would  even  fall  below  a  butcher's  skill.  Yet,  in  times  of 
disaster,  of  trouble,  of  any  misfortune,  the  masses  of 
people  indulge  so  much  sympathy  for  the  suffering  that 
they  can  do  nothing  else.  All  their  strength  goes  to  it. 
There  is  no  practical  good  in  them.  The  number  of  those 
who  can  carry  a  cool  head  into  places  of  distress  and  need, 
and  patiently  seek  out  the  causes  of  misery,  and  apply 
the  proper  remedy  is  exceedingly  small.  This  is  not  be- 
cause of  indifference.  It  is  because  sympathy  has  been 
rated  at  too  high  a  value  in  itself,  instead  of  being  called 
the  worthless  rubbish  that  it  is,  when  not  trained  to  de- 
velop into  deeds  of  practical  friendship  and  love.  To  cul- 
tivate the  emotion  of  sympathy  without  doing  more,  to 
read  works  that  excite  this  emotion  for  the  sake  of  itself, 
is  dangerous.  That  class  of  literature  that  excites  this 
emotion  without  leading  to  a  clear  discrimination  of  the 
character  of  the  act  or  person  sympathized  with,  and  the 
reason  for  sympathy,  is  positively  pernicious.  Sympathy 
is  not  to  be  labeled  '^  Poison,"  but  the  direction  should 
be  given,  *'To  be  taken  with  caution." 


CHAPTER  III. 

WILL. 
I.  NATURE  OF  THIS  FACULTY. 

HE  sympathetic  nervous  system  re- 
sponds to  a  stimulus  and  produces  muscu- 
lar activity,  sometimes  with  consciousness, 
and  sometimes  without.  Respiration,  the 
beating  of  the  heart,  and  reflex  action  in 
general  are  examples.  But  there  are  physical  move- 
ments and  mental  activities  which  depend  upon  reflective 
consciousness,  and  the  faculty  that  determines  these  ac- 
tivities is  called  the  self-determining  power  of  the  mind, 
volition,  or  will.  While  the  mind  acts  in  a  manner  to 
justify  this  application  of  the  term  self-determining  power^ 
it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  it  acts  independently  of  all 
conditions.  It  must  have  knowledge  and  feeling,  and 
knowledge  implies  an  object  known.  The  cognitions 
produce  the  practical  feelings,  and  these  act  upon  voli- 
tion; but  the  will  is  self-determining  in  this,  that  it  is 
conscious  of  freedom  to  act  or  not  to  act.  The  mind 
has  the  power  to  hold  before  itself  a  variety  of  elements, 
and  choose  for  itself  which  it  will  unify  in  action.  It  is 
not  the  sole  office  of  the  faculty  of  the  will  to  execute. 
It  must  decide  what  action  to  take;  and,  to  do  this,  it  must 
hold  the  other  faculties  of  the  mind  to  their  work ;  and,  to 
have  a  free  choice,  in  a  broad  sense  of  the  term,  it  must 
be  able  to  restrain  any  particular  action  till  all  reasons  for 
action  are  sufficiently  considered. 

(284) 


TREATMENT    OF    THE    WILL.  285 

2.  It  has  already  been  shown  that  voHtion  is  the  high- 
est form  of  mental  activity,  and  it  might  be  inferred  at 
once  that  the  treatment  and  development  of  the  will 
ought  to  occupy  the  most  important  place  in  Psychology 
and  education.  But  while  there  are  especial  and  elab- 
orate treatises  on  the  nature  of  the  will,  Psychologists 
give  the  will  only  a  very  meager  and  general  consideration 
in  its  connection  with  the  other  faculties  of  the  mind. 
In  education  it  is  treated  only  incidentally.  It  has  had 
little  distinct  recognition  either  in  the  theory  or  the  prac- 
tice of  education.  The  activity  of  the  will  is  assured  to 
a  certain  extent  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  but  its 
development  is  not  sought  in  the  same  systematic  manner, 
nor  with  the  same  elaboration  and  intelligent  purpose  as 
the  other  faculties.  The  faculty  of  knowledge  is  developed 
step  by  step,  with  patience  and  perseverance.  The  feel- 
ings are  cultivated  carefully  and  anxiously.  Let  the  taste 
and  moral  feelings  especially  claim  what  attention  they 
will,  the  claim  is  always  allowed.  But  the  will  is,  for  the 
greater  part,  left  to  itself.  We  ought  to  consider,  on  the 
contrary,  that  no  mental  activity  becomes  a  permanent 
and  valuable  form  that  does  not  involve  the  will.  Memory 
is  strong  in  proportion  to  attention.  The  judgment  is 
positive,  and  consciousness  is  clear  and  definite,  in  propor- 
tion to  attention.  But  attention  comes  from  an  activity  of 
the  will  stimulated  by  feeling.  Other  voluntary  activities 
are  the  culmination  of  activities  that  have  a  beginning  in 
the  exercise  of  the  lowest  faculties,  and  they  are  needed  to 
give  value  and  permatiency  to  the  lower  thought  and 
feeling.  We  should  not  be  content  with  securing  mental 
activity,  we  should  seek  voluntary  activity.  This  is  re- 
quired for  the  development  of  a  strong  mind.  Unless  the 
power  of  rational  volition  is  developed  a  child  may  as  well 
have  been  born  a  parrot. 


286  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

3.  The  volitions  have  been  defined  as  forms  of  activity 
terminating  in  desire,  resolution,  or  endeavor.  These 
have  been  shown  to  be  three  stages  in  the  exercise  of  the 
will.  To  be  complete  a  volition  must  culminate  in  a 
physical  or  mental  effort  to  do  something  or  accomplish 
some  purpose.  It  has  also  been  shown  that  the  volitions 
depend  upon  the  feelings,  and  that  the  feelings  must  de- 
pend upon  knowledge  if  they  develop  volition.  We  must 
have  some  intellectual  apprehension  of  an  end  in  order 
to  put  forth  a  voluntary  effort  to  attain  it.  The  ends  we 
seek  to  attain  are  called  motives,  and  sometimes  the  de- 
sire is  called  a  motive.  Motives  exist  for  us,  and  stimulate 
us  to  action,  onlj  in  so  far  as  we  have  a  knowledge  of 
them,  and  experience  pleasure  or  pain  in  anticipation. 
When  a  child  takes  an  orange  to  eat,  it  is  moved  to  the 
action  by  a  simple  desire  which  the  sight  of  the  orange 
excites  through  the  knowledge  and  pleasure  reproduced 
from  past  experience.  The  pleasure  remembered,  and 
the  pleasure  anticipated  are  identified  or  unified  in  con- 
sciousness by  the  act  of  eating. 

4.  If  a  second  child  desires  a  part  of  the  orange,  two 
opposing  motives  spring  up  in  the  mind  of  the  first  child, 
the  desire  for  the  whole  orange,  and  the  desire  to  see  the 
other  child  happy.  These  two  motives  struggle  with  each 
other  for  the  mastery  until  the  one  or  the  other  prevails. 
No  action  seems  able  to  comprehend  or  unify  them  both. 
If  the  whole  orange  is  kept,  the  benevolent  pleasure  is 
excluded;  if  a  part  is  given  away,  the  desire  for  the  whole 
is  excluded.  But  we  found  in  studying  the  cognitions, 
that  the  mind  does  not  rest  satisfied  with  any  form  of  in- 
tellectual activity  until  it  identifies  or  unifies  it.  The  same 
is  true  of  the  will.  There  is  at  first  an  utter  failure  to 
identify  the  two  desires  of  the  child  in  any  act,  and  one 
or  the  other  must  be  held  only  as  an  annoyance  while  the 


DISCRIMINATION    IN    VOLITION.  287 

Other  is  gratified.  If,  now,  we  will  look  back  to  our  treat- 
ment of  objects  of  knowledge,  we  may  gain  some  light  on 
the  correct  method  of  procedure  here.  In  the  former 
case  the  mind  was  enabled  to  identify  by  making  analysis 
or  discriminations,  until  identical  elements  were  found. 
Volition  should  proceed  in  the  same  manner.  If  a  part 
of  the  orange  is  given  away,  an  analysis  of  the  results 
will  show  that  the  giving  is  not  all  to  be  reckoned  as  loss. 
There  accompanies  the  act  the  pleasure  of  feeling  that  it 
is  a  noble  thing  to  do.  This  pleasure  is,  perhaps,  alone 
greater  than  the  pain,  and  it  could  not  be  had  without  the 
sacrifice.  Thus  the  desires  now  unified  in  the  act  of  sharing 
the  orange  with  another  become  greater  than  the  first  two 
desires  would  have  been, — the  desire  for  the  whole  orange 
and  the  desire  to  see  a  playmate  happy, — even  if  they 
could  have  been  united.  With  this  solution  the  child  is 
satisfied,  if  it  can  make  the  unification  clear  in  mind. 
With  other  gratifications  there  may  also  come  the  reflection 
that,  perhaps,  eating  the  whole  orange  might  not  have 
been  much  if  any  better  than  a  part,  and  that  the  act  of 
sharing  it  may  bring  the  same  kindness  to  the  giver  at 
some  future  time  in  return.  Many  other  results  of  the 
giving  are  also  to  be  considered,  such  as  the  approbation 
of  friends,  and  the  esteem  and  good-will  of  the  child 
receiving  the  gift.  In  this  way  it  is  sought  to  analyze  all 
that  is  involved  in  the  act  of  giving,  which  in  the  first 
place  seemed  to  exclude  so  much  good,  and  it  is  found 
that  there  are  few  if  any  elements  in  the  two  original  de- 
sires that  are  really  desirable  which  are  not  unified  in 
this  act. 

5.  But  if  the  whole  orange  is  eaten,  the  other  pleasure' 
is  excluded;  and  when  an  attempt  is  made  to  reconcile  the 
benevolent  desire  with  this  act,  the  effort  fails,  and  finds 
no  incidental  pleasure  to  make  compensation  for  the  ex- 


2S8  THE   SCIENXE    OF    EDUCATION. 

elusion.  Moreover,  the  gratification  of  eating  the  whole 
orange  would  be  short,  at  best,  while  the  other  pleasures 
would  be  enduring.  If  the  child  will  make  the  discrim- 
inations spoken  of,  action  will  be  determined  in  favor  of 
the  benevolent  motive;  but  if  it  will  not  consider,  if  its 
will  is  determined  without  any  such  discriminations  and 
unifications,  it  will  almost  certainly  choose  in  favor  of  the 
course  which  will  give  the  least  pleasure,  and  which  has 
the  weakest  real  motives  to  justify  the  choice. 

6.  We  are  apt  to  think  of  the  will  in  too  narrow  a  sense. 
We  think  of  it  as  a  single  effort  of  desire,  resolution,  or 
endeavor.  It  will  be  noticed  that  volitions  have  been  de- 
fined above  as  activities  ending  in  these  forms.  But  the 
end  is  not  all  there  is  of  it.  The  will  is  concerned  with  a 
whole  series  of  activities  which  ought  to  be  held  in  con- 
sciousness, analyzed  and  united  in  a  result  that  will 
embody  a  complete  unification  of  all  the  elements,  or,  if 
not  all,  of  as  large  a  number  as  it  is  possible  to  combine 
with  harmony.  The  development  of  the  child's  will  in 
the  case  supposed,  consists  in  leading  it  to  such  an  analy- 
sis of  motives  as  brings  the  highest  motives  to  bear  to- 
gether upon  action  with  their  fullest  force. 

7.  When  the  child  is  older,  the  feeling  of  responsibility, 
the  sense  of  right  and  wrong,  love  of  friends,  and  all 
the  higher  ends  of  life  will  be  added  as  motives.  But  at 
every  stage  of  progress  the  will  is  developed,  in  a  large 
sense,  only  when  it  is  exercised  in  holding  desire  in  check 
until  motives  are  thoroughly  analyzed,  and  in  unifying  in 
view  of  this  analysis  those  that  ought  to  prevail  in  action. 
This  ability  is  essential  to  choice.  Only  in  so  far  as 
variety  is  perceived,  is  choice  possible.  The  freedom  of 
choice  implies  ability  to  hold  discriminations  in  con- 
sciousness without  unifying,  and  in  restraining  decision  so 
long  as  there  are  discriminations  to  be  made.     One  may 


DISCRIMINATIONS  IN  VOLITION.  289 

say  he  makes  a  free  choice  when  he  is  not  forcibly  re- 
strained by  another.  But  this  is  a  low  and  narrow  free- 
dom. If  a  child  is  bHnd  folded  and  told  to  choose  from 
a  basket  of  apples  of  different  varieties  the  one  he  likes 
best,  he  will  acknowledge  his  inability  to  choose.  The 
hands  are  free  to  take,  and  the  apples  are  within  reach, 
but  there  is  no  ability  to  gain  a  knowledge  that  is  required 
to  make  a  comparison  of  desires  and  free  choice  possible. 

8.  The  tendency  to  hasty  unification  without  sufficient 
and  careful  discriminations  was  seen  in  studying  the  Gen- 
eral Law  of  Mental  Development,  and  again  in  studying 
induction,  but  it  is  particularly  strong  in  the  exercise  of 
the  will.  It  can  not  be  too  strongly  impressed  upon  the 
mind  that  decision  and  action  should  embrace  the  broad- 
est view  of  motives,  and  that  it  is  unwise  and  harmful  to 
yield  the  will  to  narrow  and  ephemeral  desires  and  low 
purposes,  and  leave  out  of  consideration  the  higher  mo- 
tives of  action,  or  neglect  to  search  them  out  and  know 
what  they  are.  Action  that  does  not  embody  or  unite  all 
the  variety  of  motives  possible  is  not  the  highest  expres- 
sion of  will. 

9.  We  are  now  prepared  to  see  more  definitely  what  is 
meant  by  rational  volitions.  Under  the  head  of  atten- 
tion it  was  said  that  the  cognitions  produce  feeling,  and 
feelings  stimulate  the  will,  and  the  will  directs  the  atten- 
tion ;  that  is,  it  renews  the  energy  of  cognition  in  a  par- 
ticular direction,  and  again  feeling  and  volition  follow  in 
turn,  and  the  series  of  activities  is  repeated  until  con- 
sciousness is  complete.  We  have  also  seen  that  rational 
activities  are  the  highest  of  the  cognitions.  Rational 
volition,  then,  is  the  exercise  of  the  will  in  the  analysis 
of  rational  motives  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  high- 
est possible  unification  of  these  motives,  which  are  then 
embodied  in  action.     This  is  the  highest  exercise  of  will. 

S.  E.-25. 


290  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

The  complete  development  of  this  faculty  involves  the 
ability  to  discriminate  and  make  the  highest  and  most 
comprehensive  unification  of  motives  in  decisions,  and  also 
the  abilility  to  enforce  every  determination  with  vigor  and 
promptness  of  action  in  all  the  variety  of  cases  likely  to 
call  for  one's  consideration. 

lo.  If  we  apply  the  Laws  of  Sequence  to  the  will,  we 
shall  see  why  its  claims  have  been  so  slow  of  recognition. 
In  the  order  of  dependence  it  is  the  last  faculty  brought 
into  exercise.  We  might  expect  it  to  be  fully  developed 
only  late  in  the  history  of  the  race  and  in  the  growth  of 
the  individual  mind,  and,  naturally,  it  would  be  late  in 
securing  that  clear  understanding  and  positive  recognition 
which  its  importance  demands.  It  may  seem  at  first  sight 
that  the  will  has  not  been  later  than  the  other  faculties  in 
securing  recognition.  Perhaps  not  in  securing  recogni- 
tion, but  let  us  see  about  a  just  recognition.  In  so  far  as 
the  will  is  dependent  upon  other  activities,  when  it  makes 
a  choice  it  ought  to  take  into  consideration  all  the  knowl- 
edge and  feelings  which  have  ever  been  connected  with 
the  individual  case  presented,  and  choose  that  combination 
in  favor  of  which  there  is  the  strongest  force  of  deliberate 
reason. 

But  whence  come  wars?  Surely  not  from  a  failure  of 
men  to  recognize  their  mutual  dependence  upon  one  an- 
other to  secure  their  highest  good;  but  from  yielding  to 
the  impulse  of  lower  desires,  which  have  a  stronger  de- 
termining power  than  the  higher  motives,  because  the 
power  of  self-control  in  nations  and  masses  of  men  has 
not  been  developed  sufficiently  to  hold  the  immediate 
motive  in  check,  and  give  due  weight  to  distant  and 
broader  motives.  So  weak  are  the  higher  motives  in 
controlling  national  action — and  this  must  be  considered 
as  most  accurately  measuring  the  will  power  of  the  race — 


SEQUENCE    OF    THE    WILL.  29I 

that  national  decisions  have  been  almost  uniformly  deter- 
mined by  the  most  selfish  considerations.  No  government 
could  exist  for  a  day,  and  claim  respect,  that  willingly 
allowed  the  same  license  to  its  citizens  in  their  dealings 
with  each  other  which  it  claims  for  itself  in  dealing  with 
other  nations.  Each  nation  excuses  itself,  not  on  the 
ground  of  ignorance,  but  on  the  ground  of  necessity  in 
that  other  nations  will  act  from  the  same  selfish  motives. 
The  armaments  of  Europe  are  a  recognition  of  the  degree 
to  which  the  nations  maintaining  them,  distrust  the  ability 
of  the  most  highly  civilized  peoples  to  direct  their  con- 
duct by  those  principles  which  all  acknowledge  would  lead 
to  the  best  results,  and  which  ought  to  be  supreme. 

If  any  one  supposes  individual  will  to  be  better  developed, 
let  him  ask  himself  how  much  more  men  in  their  personal 
relations  would  act  in  accordance  with  the  higher  princi- 
ples of  conduct  than  nations  if  it  were  not  for  the  power 
of  government  to  enforce  conformity  to  those  principles 
that  are  deemed  best.  As  the  cognitive  faculties  or  the 
feelings  may  be  developed  in  one  direction  and  left  feeble 
in  all  other  directions,  so  the  will  may  be  strong  in  the 
direction  of  one  class  of  motives  and  weak  in  all  other 
respects.  It  should  be  the  object  of  education  so  to  de- 
velop the  will  as  to  enable  one  to  bring  all  his  powers  into 
action  under  the  influence  of  the  highest  motives.  Only 
when  this  is  done  can  it  be  considered  as  rightly  devel- 
oped, and  when  we  consider  what  external  force  has  to  be 
substituted  for  it  in  national  control,  and  in  civil  and  com- 
mercial life,  it  must  be  evident  that,  however  slow  the 
development  of  intelligence  and  feeling  may  be,  the  de- 
velopment of  the  will  is  still  slower.  The  importance  of 
this  stage  of  mental  development  should  receive  more 
careful  consideration.  Action  should  be  enforced  as  the 
end  of  knowledge. 


292  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

II.  APPLICATION  OF  THE  LAWS  OF  EXERCISE. 

The  Laws  of  Exercise  to  secure  breadth,  strength,  and 
facility  have  an  important  appHcation  to  the  development 
of  the  will. 

I.    BREADTH    OF    ACTIVITY. 

(i.)  The  mind  should  be  exercised  in  seeking  reasons 
for  every  thing  that  is  to  be  done.  Reasons  may  conflict 
with  each  other,  and  require  careful  analysis  to  discover 
the  motive  that  ought  to  prevail.  The  motives  which 
weigh  with  a  well-disposed  pupil  in  case  of  misconduct  on 
the  part  of  a  fellow  pupil,  are  often  of  that  conflicting 
kind.  There  are  duties  to  fellow  pupils,  and  duties  to 
the  teacher  and  school.  It  is  not  always  easy  to  decide 
which  motive  should  rule.  There  should  be  an  effort  to 
impress  upon  the  minds  of  pupils  in  general  the  impor- 
tance of  putting  aside  narrow  personal  motives,  and  act- 
ing on  the  highest  principles.  There  should  also  be  an 
effort  to  analyze  the  interests  that  are  involved  in  miscon- 
duct of  various  kinds  in  such  a  way  as  to  turn  the  feelings 
of  all  the  well-disposed  towards  the  support  of  right  and 
against  wrong  doing.  All  the  desirable  elements  of  the 
various  motives  presented  should  be  made  to  unify  in  sus- 
taining the  right.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  would 
so  unite  if  they  could  be  seen  in  their  true  light.  Wrong- 
doing should  have  no  sympathy  from  the  right-minded. 
These  two  characteristics,  the  desire  to  act  on  high  prin- 
ciples in  general,  and  sympathy  with  the  right,  should  be 
strongly  developed  in  every  mind.  When  this  is  done 
there  will  only  remain  the  difficulty  of  determining  the 
cases  that  require  action.  On  this  point  there  is  a  great 
difference   of  opinion   in  different  schools,  and  different 


VARIETY    OF    MOTIVES.  293 

communities.  Teachers  should  be  careful  to  avoid  push- 
ing the  claims  of  their  side  too  fast  and  too  far  in  demand- 
ing the  co-operation  of  the  pupils  against  their  fellows. 
But  it  may  be  said  that  the  tendency  of  motives  in  general 
is  to  secure  more  and  more  the  active  co-operation  of  all 
in  maintaining  the  general  well-being  against  wrong-doers 
the  higher  the  character  of  a  school  or  community.  If  a 
pupil  is  called  upon  to  give  evidence  between  two  pupils, 
or  in  the  case  of  a  wrong  affecting  the  general  interests, 
much  discretion  must  be  exercised,  but  on  the  general 
principle  of  such  a  requirement  the  teacher  may  appeal 
to  the  common  and  settled  judgment  of  men  as  manifest 
in  the  requirements  of  the  law,  that  the  state  or  any  indi- 
vidual may  require  the  testimony  of  all  who  can  give 
evidence  to  their  advantage.  If  the  right-minded  cause  it 
to  be  understood,  as  they  ought,  that,  while  they  will  not 
be  spies  and  mischief-makers,  they  can  not  be  held  re- 
sponsible to  shield  wrong-doing,  there  are  but  few  children 
who  will  not  confess  readily  enough  to  their  own  faults  if 
rightly  approached. 

(2.)  There  may  be  a  great  variety  of  motives,  not  so 
much  conflicting  with  one  another,  as  leading  in  opposite 
directions,  so  that  all  can  not  be  acted  upon  at  the  same 
time.  If  a  child  is  given  his  choice  between  having  a 
ride  and  playing  with  some  mates,  one  or  the  other  mo- 
tive must  be  put  aside.  When  many  motives  are  pre- 
sented at  the  same  time,  it  is  not  an  easy  thing  for  the 
mind  to  weigh  them  fairly,  and  decide  in  favor  of  those 
that  ought  to  have  most  influence.  When  a  young  man  is 
deliberating  upon  the  course  he  shall  pursue  for  his  life's 
work,  it  is  difficult  to  determine  the  relative  importance  he 
ought  to  give  to  different  ends  presented  to  him.  If  he  is 
to  choose  wisely  he  should  be  able  to  hold  all  the  motives 
easily  in  mind  for  comparison,  and  should  be  able  to  take 


294  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

a  broad  view  of  them  so  as  to  give  a  true  value  to  distant 
purposes.  It  is  much  easier  to  decide  from  some  acci- 
dental circumstance,  or  in  view  of  some  desire  that  is 
strong  because  the  gratification  is  in  sight,  but  the  will 
should  be  trained  to  patience,  to  endurance,  and  to  the  use 
of  the  highest  reason  in  such  decisions. 

(3.)  Motives  may  differ  from  each  other  in  degree  of 
certainty.  A  motive  of  litde  weight  may  prevail  against 
a  strong  motive  if  the  latter  is  uncertain.  The  mind 
should  be  able  to  analyze  the  conditions  on  which  the 
stronger  motive  depends,  and  not  yield  to  the  tendency 
to  take  the  easier  course,  and  to  decide  for  the  weaker 
motive,  rather  than  be  at  the  pains  to  search  out  the  true 
state  of  the  case  with  regard  to  the  stronger  motive. 

(4.)  For  reasons  like  these,  and  for  other  reasons,  the 
mind  should  be  trained  to  hold  desire  in  check,  and  com- 
pare all  the  variety  of  motives  it  can  find,  before  making 
its  decision.  But  a  decision  should  be  reached  and  acted 
upon,  or  a  habit  of  delay  may  be  produced  that  will  be 
as  bad  as  many  ill-advised  but  vigorously  executed  plans. 

2.    STRENGTH   OF    VOLITIONS. 

(i.)  To  avoid  indecision,  strength  of  will  should  be 
cultivated.  One  may  be  able  to  analyze  motives,  and  hold 
a  great  variety  of  them  before  the  mind,  and  appreciate 
motives  of  different  kinds,  without  the  ability  to  concen- 
trate them  and  make  them  fruitful  of  results.  A  habit  of 
forming  decisions  and  holding  vigorously  to  purposes 
which  have  been  formed  is  a  very  important  element  of 
character.  In  accordance  with  the  second  Law  of  Exer- 
cise, strength  is  cultivated  by  undertaking  and  carrying 
to  final  completion  those  duties  that  require  the  severest 
struggles.     Hardships  endured,  obstacles  overcome,  and 


STRENGTH    OF    VOLITIONS.  295 

temptations  resisted,  give  strength  to  the  will.  The  will 
is  also  strengthened  by  doing  one's  work  thoroughly.  If 
we  stop  in  any  work  we  have  to  do  before  it  is  finished 
and  made  as  complete  as  we  feel  it  ought  to  be  made, 
our  will-power  is  dissipated ;  but  the  completion  of  every 
thing  in  the  best  possible  manner  strengthens  the  will. 

(2.)  The  will  may  be  strong  in  some  directions  and 
weak  in  others.  For  this  reason  we  should  not  be  satis- 
fied with  the  ability  to  carry  out  determinations  in  one 
line  of  action.  Strength  should  be  cultivated  in  connec- 
tion with  breadth.  The  Spartan  youth  who  could  keep  a 
fox  concealed  under  his  garments,  though  it  tore  out  his 
very  vitals,  rather  than  betray  his  theft,  undoubtedly  had 
a  strong  will.  Spartans  made  irresistible  and  unconquer- 
able soldiers.  But  the  Spartans  were  not  efficient  in  many 
things.  They  were  willing  to  spend  all  their  energies  in 
the  display  of  physical  courage.  They  could  not  bring 
themselves  to  see  the  dangers  that  threatened  them,  with 
the  rest  of  Greece,  in  consequence  of  civil  dissensions. 
Stubbornness  and  a  dogged  disposition  should  be  corrected 
by  the  development  of  broader  and  more  varied  purposes. 

3.    FACILITY    OF   WILL. 

Facility  in  making  decisions  and  in  executing  them  is 
often  of  great  importance.  The  third  Law  of  Exercise  is 
naturally  applicable  to  the  development  of  this  power. 
The  danger  to  be  guarded  against  is  a  tendency  to  rash- 
ness and  indiscretion.  But  there  are  classes  of  cases  that 
should  admit  of  no  hesitation.  In  these  the  mind  should 
be  thoroughly  trained  to  prompt  action  early  in  its  devel- 
opment, and  correct  habits  strongly  fixed.  When  cases 
of  right  and  wrong  are  clearly  presented,  there  should  be 
no  indecision.     There  should  be  no  searching  after  other 


296  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

motives  to  counterbalance  the  motive  of  right  conduct.  So 
a  habit  should  be  cultivated  of  yielding  to  the  motives  of 
reason  rather  than  passion,  and  motives  of  permanent  ad- 
vantage rather  than  a  less  important  present  gain. 


III.  SPECIAL  LAWS  OF  VOLITION  DEPENDING 
ON  SEQUENCE  AND  CORRELATION. 

Law  I. — The  Activity  of  the  Will  Must  be  Ex- 
cited BY  THE  Activity  of  the  Feelings. 

First  Proof. — The  cognitions  must  be  excited  before  the 
v^^ill,  but  these  alone  can  not  excite  volition.  Unless 
there  is  a  feeling  of  pleasure  or  pain,  there  will  be  no  de- 
sire either  to  obtain  or  avoid  an  object  of  cognition.  If 
there  is  no  desire,  there  will  be  no  resolution ;  and  if  no 
resolution,  no  endeavor.  The  need  of  feeling  becomes 
less  as  the  will  is  developed,  but  it  must  exist  in  some  de- 
gree or  there  will  be  no  volition. 

Second  Proof. — If  we  consider  volition  in  its  relations  to 
the  other  faculties  individually,  we  shall  find  the  Law 
true  in  each  case.  Perception  must  excite  feeling,  or  the 
object  perceived  will  not  draw  attention  so  as  to  be  brought 
into  clear  consciousness.  In  the  same  way  it  has  been 
shown  that  exercises  of  memory,  imagination,  and  reason- 
ing produce  feelings  which  lead  the  will  to  direct  the 
energy  of  the  mind  to  the  renewal  of  these  activities  again 
and  again  until  consciousness  is  made  complete.  The 
feeling  may  be  slight,  but  pain,  to  the  degree  of  uneasi- 
ness at  least,  and  other  low  grades  of  feeling,  like  those  of 
curiosity,  the  sense  of  power,  and  personal  identity,  may 
always  be  traced  with  as  much  clearness  as  consciousness 
itself. 


VOLITIONS    EXCITED    BY    FEELINGS.  297 


Observations. 

(I.)  The  Law  gives  double  force  to  what  has  been  said 
in  favor  of  the  effort  to  excite  interest  in  study.  It  was 
argued  before  on  the  ground  of  its  increasing  the  amount 
of  activity.  It  is  argued  now  on  the  ground  that  the 
renewed  activity  is  voluntary,  and  that  it  thus  leads  to 
more  permanent  results  through  the  exercise  of  the  highest 
faculty  of  the  mind.  It  may  be  well  here  to  recall  the  re- 
mark of  Humboldt  that  the  value  of  a  study  is  in  propor- 
tion to  the  interest  it  excites.  This  can  not  be  maintained 
in  comparing  the  value  of  different  truths ;  but  it  is  sound 
and  highly  important  when  applied  to  study  as  a  mental 
exercise. 

(II.)  The  Law  of  Degradation  and  Dissipation  finds  an 
important  application  here.  The  feelings  may  be  excited 
to  a  high  degree  without  producing  any  voluntary  activity. 
Unless  the  pleasure  is  such  as  to  lead  to  voluntary  efforts, 
the  energy  aroused  will  be  wasted.  Dissipation  is  brought 
in  either  of  two  ways ;  first,  cognition  leads  to  feeling  and 
the  activity  stops  with  this;  or,  secondly,  an  attempt  is 
made  to  excite  to  resolution  by  higher  motives,  and  then  an 
appeal  is  made  to  the  lower  and  more  intense  feelings,  and 
in  these  the  mind  is  allowed  to  rest. 

(i.)  Dissipation  of  the  first  kind  is  produced  when  the 
practical  feelings  are  excited  with  no  practical  object  in 
view.  It  is  the  order  of  nature  that  sympathy  and  affec- 
tion should  be  developed  in  a  child  as  mere  feelings  before 
they  will  lead  to  acts  of  benevolence  and  kindness.  But 
when  the  child's  nature  has  been  developed  so  as  to  secure 
the  display  of  these  feelings,  the  exercise  of  them  without 
a  practical  object  of  care,  or  a  practical  service  in  view  is 
a  dissipation. 


298  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

(2.)  The  second  form  of  this  dissipation  is  produced 
when  one  begins  a  lesson  by  presenting  a  practical  end 
and  closes  with  an  appeal  to  the  feelings.  A  moral  lesson, 
for  instance,  begins  with  the  emphatic  declaration  or  illus- 
tration of  the  importance  of  some  high  purpose,  and  ends 
with  a  farce.  Is  not  this  the  order  of  many  an  exhibition, 
lecture,  or  theatrical  performance  ?  Is  it  not  the  order  of 
many  a  sermon  to  begin  with  the  practical,  and  close  with 
the  emotional  ?  The  following  criticism  once  made  upon 
the  treatment  of  the  passage,  ''Wherefore,  seeing  we  also 
are  compassed  about  with  so  great  a  crowd  of  witnesses, 
let  us  lay  aside  every  weight,  and  the  sin  which  doth  so 
easily  beset  us,  and  let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that 
is  set  before  us,"  sets  forth  the  error  of  this  method  clearly. 
There  are  three  things  to  be  considered,  the  approbation, 
the  preparation,  and  the  race.  The  order  in  which  these 
are  presented  in  the  passage  is  the  natural  order  of  devel- 
opment, and  the  series  ends  with  the  intensest  degree  of 
action.  The  idea  of  the  race  should  be  permanent. 
But  many  a  declaimer  would  begin  with  the  end 
to  be  accomplished,  setting  it  forth  before  presenting 
any  adequate  inducement,  and  end  with  a  contemplation 
of  the  delight  of  the  expected  approval,  entirely  forgetful 
of  the  race  by  which  approval  can  alone  be  gained. 

(3.)  It  was  said  of  Demosthenes,  that,  while  other  ora- 
tors left  their  hearers  astonished  at  their  eloquence,  the 
Athenians  went  out  from  his  presence  saying  to  each 
other,  ''Let  us  fight  against  Philip."  Every  one  who 
reads  many  of  the  orations  of  Demosthenes  must  be  struck 
at  the  uniform  absence  of  appeals  to  the  feelings  in  the 
peroration.  In  following  the  true  order  of  development, 
each  activity  excited  helps  to  the  next  step;  but  in  follow- 
ing the  reverse  order,  if  any  success  is  gained  in  arousing 
the  mind  to  resolution  in  the  beginning,  the  effect  is  dissi- 


ACTION    THE    END    OF    MOTIVE.  299 

pated  in  the  more  pleasing  and  easy  play  of  the  feelings 
excited  at  the  close. 

Law  II. — The  Grade  of  Voluntary  Activity  will 
BE  AS  THE  Grade  of  the  Feelings. 

First  Proof. — It  is  an  accepted  truth  that  motive  or  in- 
tention determines  the  character  of  an  act.  The  laws  of 
the  land  recognize  this,  both  in  criminal  cases  and  the  in- 
terpretation of  contracts.  But  there  is  a  feeling  interme- 
diate between  the  external  motive  and  the  act,  and  this 
interprets  the  character  of  the  motive  and  determines  the 
act.  The  motive  is  named  as  giving  character  to  the  act 
because  the  feeling  can  not  be  seen  in  itself,  but  it  is  im- 
plied, and  may  fairly  be  inferred  from  the  act. 

Second  Proof, — Acts  are  classified  according  to  the  feel- 
ings that  excite  them.  An  act  is  called  moral  when  it  is 
induced  by  moral  feeHng.  It  is  called  intellectual  when 
excited  by  the  contemplative  feelings.  It  is  called  selfish 
when  excited  by  selfishness.  It  is  possible  for  one  to  at- 
tain high  eminence  as  a  writer,  a  musician,  or  worker  in 
any  line  of  activity,  and  have  no  heart,  as  we  say.  But  in 
such  cases  there  is  a  subtle  element  which  a  sensitive  per- 
son will  always  say  is  wanting.  Proper  feeling  is  required 
to  produce  the  perfect  work.  Religious,  patriotic,  filial, 
social  acts  require,  each  for  itself,  feelings  that  belong  to 
no  other  kind  of  actions.  ^ 

Observations. 

(I.)  There  is  not  an  act  of  life,  perhaps,  that  is  not 
prompted  by  a  variety  of  motives.  In  the  act  of  studying, 
a  child  desires  to  learn,  to  obey  his  teacher,  to  please  his 
parents,  and  to  gain  the  approbation  of  friends.     Perhaps 


300  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

the  offer  of  a  prize  tnay  be  added  to  these  motives.  If  he 
is  asked  why  he  studies,  any  one  of  these  motives  may  be 
given  as  a  true  answer,  but  not  any  one  will  completely 
account  for  the  act.  The  energy  expended  will  be  height- 
ened in  value  in  proportion  to  the  character  of  the  feeling 
most  efficient  in  exciting  it.  The  motives  that  will  be 
effective  depend  upon  the  mind  to  be  stimulated,  and  the 
highest  motives  that  can  be  used  should  always  be  called 
into  exercise.  If  a  high  motive  finds  only  a  faint  response, 
it  may  be  developed  by  use  and  by  making  proper  dis- 
criminations. In  urging  a  choice  of  motives,  those  should 
be  selected  which  are  found  to  be  the  highest  that  can  be 
appreciated. 

(II.)  In  cases  of  bad  conduct  there  are  many  motives, 
as  in  other  cases.  It  is  neither  just  nor  wise  to  charge  the 
worst  motive  of  them  all  with  more  than  its  due  share  of 
influence.  The  worst  motives  may  be  pointed  out  to  ex- 
cite an  aversion  to  them,  and  they  should  not  be  excused 
because  an  offender  is  able  to  point  out  some  better  asso- 
ciated motives;  but  after  a  clear  analysis  of  all  the  motives 
it  should  be  the  endeavor  to  develop  the  feelings  that  will 
prevent  such  action,  and  strengthen  correct  motives.  It 
is  not  fulfilling  the  responsibility  of  a  teacher  to  say  that  a 
child  ought  to  have  such  and  such  feelings ;  he  should  seek 
by  every  means  within  his  reach  to  cultivate  the  feelings 
which  he  thinks  ought  to  exist.  This  can  be  done  effect- 
ively only  by  inducing  such  action  as  shall  call  them  into 
exercise.  The  great  superiority  of  Dr.  Thomas  Arnold 
in  educating  boys  consisted  in  his  ability  to  direct  their 
conduct  in  such  a  manner  that  their  better  natures  found 
expression;  and  before  they  were  fully  conscious  of  the 
motives  that  controlled  them,  they  had  a  variety  of  ex- 
periences in  which  they  could  discriminate  the  value  of 
high  and  noble  impulses. 


PROGRESS    OF    VOLITIONS.  30I 

Law  III.  — Complete  Development  Carries  Voli- 
tion   THROUGH    THE    ThREE    SUCCESSIVE    StAGES   OF     De- 

siRE,    Resolution,    and    Achievement   or   Endeavor. 

Proof. — There  may  be  three  cases. 

(i.)  A  person  may  desire  something  which  he  finds  no 
means  of  obtaining,  when  voHtion  stops  with  desire.  He 
seeks  for  some  means  of  gratifying  his  desire,  but  finds 
none  which  can  serve  as  a  purpose  of  resolution.  An 
astronomer  might  have  a  desire  to  visit  one  of  the  planets. 
However  strong  the  desire  is,  he  can  not  resolve  upon 
any  plan  for  effecting  the  object,  for  he  sees  no  means 
within  his  reach.  That  he  has  the  desire,  however,  and 
that  the  state  of  mind  is  that  of  an  incomplete  activity,  are 
both  manifest  from  the  fact  that  the  object  of  such  a  visit 
frequently  recurs  to  his  thoughts,  and  he  often  tries  to 
imagine  what  conditions  would  make  the  attainment  of  his 
desire  possible. 

(2.)  Desire  may  pass  to  resolution,  and  volition  stop 
there.  That  this  activity  is  not  complete  volition  is  man- 
ifest in  this,  that  resolution  has  no  other  end  than  some 
action,  and  desire  must  either  continue  in  the  mind  holding 
it  in  an  unsatisfied  state,  or  dissipate  the  energy  by  which 
it  was  produced  when  it  ceases  to  hold  clear  discrim- 
inations in  consciousness. 

(3.)  Resolution  may  terminate  in  action.  In  this  case 
the  mental  activity  is  complete.  All  the  elements  of 
thought  and  feeling  centering  in  desire  are  unified  in  the 
result  so  far  as  they  can  be  comprehended  in  the  unifica- 
tion. Even  if  some  other  action  is  discovered  later  that 
would  have  unified  a  greater  variety  of  desires,  the  act 
performed  is  the  end  of  all  that  is  involved  in  this  volition, 
and  other  volitions  must  follow  if  different  results  are 
sought. 


302  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 


Observations. 

(I.)  The  will  has  now  been  found  to  be  the  highest 
faculty  of  the  mind,  and  action  or  endeavor  the  highest 
development  of  the  will.  To  this  conclusion  we  have 
come  by  stages  of  steady  progress,  and  the  proofs  are  vari- 
ous and  united  by  links  and  interlacings  that  can  not  be 
sundered  or  separated.  When  Demosthenes  was  asked 
what  is  the  most  important  element  in  oratory,  and  replied, 
''Action,  action,  action,"  who  can  tell  how  deep  his 
meaning  was  ?  He  is  said  not  to  have  sought  dramatic 
effects  by  physical  action,  but  every  sentence  of  his  ora- 
tions had  action  for  its  end.  If  applied  to  this  feature  of 
his  oratory  his  reply  would  be  strikingly  pertinent.  But  in 
the  view  of  the  will  here  set  forth  his  words  have  a  pro- 
founder  application  still.  Action  is  not  only  the  end  of 
oratory,  but  the  highest  end  to  be  sought  in  every  attempt 
to  develop  the  human  mind. 

(II.)  Children,  from  the  beginning  of  their  education, 
should  be  trained  in  the  habit  of  doing.  Manual  training 
and  industrial  education  are  attracting  the  attention  of 
many  educators  with  the  end  in  view  of  teaching  how  to 
do  useful  work.  Without  entering  upon  a  discussion  of 
these  methods  and  their  merits,  and  with  the  fullest  recog- 
nition of  the  fact  that  they  have  many  merits,  it  must  be 
acknowledged  that  there  are  practical  difficulties  of  find- 
ing means  sufficient  in  variety  and  extent  to  meet  the  re- 
quirements of  all  occupations;  and  this  fact  greatly 
restricts  the  application  and  diminishes  the  value  of  these 
methods.  But  there  is  a  broader  view  to  be  taken  of  the 
industrious  habit,  and  the  means  available  for  carrying  out 
this  broader  view  are  varied  and  common  enough  to  meet 
all  cases.     This  view  is  the  recognition  of  the  value  of  all 


INDUSTRIAL    TRAINING.  303 

action  in  developing  the  highest  power  of  the  will.  A 
much  broader  range  of  actions  than  can  be  made  to  con- 
tribute immediately  to  practical  results  is  adapted  to 
accomplish  this  end. 

(III.)  Every  relation  in  which  a  child  is  placed  in- 
volves the  possibility  of  some  action.  Acts  of  obedience, 
acts  of  kindness,  self-help,  keeping  things  in  their  places, 
care  of  one's  person,  clothes  or  playthings,  performing  a 
task,  whether  of  learning  or  labor,  play  that  has  a  pur- 
pose in  it,  all  these  are  ends  in  the  attainment  of  which 
the  will  develops  the  power  to  do.  Such  ends  are  not 
only  more  common  and  available,  but  they  are  also  bet- 
ter appreciated  by  children  than  what  is  called  profitable 
employment.  There  is  no  doubt  that  practical  usefulness 
is  a  wholesome  exercise,  and  that  the  habit  of  work  with 
such  an  end  in  view  ought  to  be  cultivated  in  childhood. 
But  there  is  danger  of  producing  narrow  minds,  and  of 
making  children  prematurely  old,  if  this  is  pressed  too  far. 
But  one  thing  should  be  insisted  on  in  every  case,  and 
that  is,  that  every  child  should  be  doing  something  that 
will  call  forth  action  in  view  of  fixed  purposes. 

(IV.)  Some  children  will  always  be  active,  and  need 
only  to  be  directed.  But  many  more  are  naturally  indo- 
lent. Teachers  and  parents  should  begin  early  to  set 
these  to  work,  and  stimulate  voluntary  effort.  Regularity 
of  employment  in  study  or  manual  work  is  an  important 
element.  Stimulating  some  natural  desire  by  an  object 
which  it  will  cost  an  effort  to  gain  is  a  method  of  develop- 
ment. Work  which  a  child  feels  it  is  right  and  necessary 
to  perform  is  a  useful  stimulus.  Few  boys  who  are  com- 
pelled by  circumstances  to  help  in  maintaining  the  family 
of  which  they  are  a  part  grow  up  inefficient  men.  They 
may  often  fall  below  their  highest  possibilities  from  lack  of 
the  advantages  needed  for  mental  improvement,  but  habits 


304 


THE  SCIENCE   OF  EDUCATION. 


cultivated  by  the  necessity  of  toiling  for  a  livelihood  will 
save  almost  any  boy  from  growing  up  a  burden  upon 
friends  or  society.  But  a  large  proportion  of  boys  who  are 
not  compelled  by  any  necessity  to  toil,  grow  up  to  be  use- 
less men,  to  spend  more  than  they  earn,  not  so  much 
because  they  do  not  know  a  trade  or  useful  business,  as 
because  they  have  no  will  to  do  any  thing.  If  they  had 
the  will  they  could  learn,  but  they  are  not  able  to  set 
themselves  about  any  thing  with  a  purpose.  The  reform 
which  manual  and  industrial  training  seeks  should  be 
broadened,  and  if  parents  and  teachers  could  understand 
the  importance  of  this  broader  purpose,  the  effort  required 
for  making  it  a  success  would  be  put  forth  at  once  in  every 
school  and  household.  This  effort  will  cost  thought  and 
care,  not  other  great  expense. 

(V.)  When  cases  of  the  indolent  poor  are  examined,  it 
is  often  said  they  are  without  ambition,  they  have  no  mo- 
tive in  life.  This  is  but  another  way  of  saying  the  devel- 
opment of  their  wills  is  defective.  If  they  had  the  power 
to  hold  their  minds  to  thought,  to  analyze  the  motives  life 
offers,  and  to  act  upon  them,  there  would  be  no  lack  of 
inducements  to  exertion.  We  say  we  can  not  understand 
why  they  are  so  indifferent,  and  content  to  live  with  such 
low  and  poor  enjoyments,  when  they  might  easily  multiply 
their  comforts  and  pleasures  by  using  the  means  within 
their  reach.  They  know  much  better  than  they  do.  If 
we  will  recall  what  has  been  said  of  Sequence  as  applied 
to  the  will  we  may  find  the  explanation.  The  will  power 
in  them  has  not  reached  the  stage  of  development  gained 
in  intellect  and  feeling. 

(VI.)  Achievement  is  a  difficult  act.  One  is  easily  dis- 
couraged at  the  magnitude  of  a  great  undertaking,  and  the 
effort  to  do  is  degraded  to  resolution,  resolution  falls  back 
on  desire,  and  desire  sinks  into  feeling,  and  in  the  feelings 


DEGRADATION    OF    VOLITIONS.  305 

all  energy  is  dissipated.  The  final  stage  of  accomplish- 
ment  is  the  highest,  and  in  sight  of  the  goal  every  nerve 
should  be  stimulated  to  its  greatest  effort.  At  this  point 
brave  men  are  willing,  like  the  sailors  in  the  race  of  Virgil, 
to  barter  their  lives  for  victory.  Let  it  be  understood 
there  are  many  prizes  in  life's  contest.  Not  they  alone 
who  come  in  first  receive  a  palm,  but  all  they  who  strive 
nobly  and  come  to  the  goal  at  all.  Strength  is  gained  in 
the  consciousness  of  achievement,  and  this  prize  should  be 
daily  sought  and  won. 

(VII.)  But  to  stop  and  dally  with  resolution  in  the  face 
of  an  undertaking,  is  to  put  one's  self  on  the  way  to  giving 
up  resolution,  and  is  weakening  to  the  will.  Yet  it  would 
not  be  too  much  to  say  that  most  of  the  resolutions  of 
most  persons  either  end  in  failure,  or,  at  least,  fall  below 
the  effort  required  to  gain  the  full  results  originally  aimed 
at.  It  is  impossible  for  the  will  to  maintain  an  activity 
of  consciousness  that  will  hold  distinctly  all  the  motives 
of  which  we  sometimes  have  glimpses,  and  the  resolutions 
formed  in  our  highest  states  of  consciousness  are  insensi- 
bly degraded  and  we  are  satisfied  with  lower  ends, 
scarcely  feeling  our  loss.  To  stop  habitually  short  of  en- 
deavor breaks  down  the  power  of  resolution,  and  weakens 
desire,  and  saps  the  very  foundation  of  will. 

IV.    FORMS    OF    UNITIES    OF   THE   WILL. 

The  forms  in  which  the  will  makes  its  final  unification 
of  discriminations  may  be  classified  as  Language,  Art,  and 
Conduct. 

I.    LANGUAGE. 

(i.)  Language  is  synthetic.  The  word  is  a  unity,  the 
import  of  which  is  determined  by  the  discriminations  that 

S.  E.— 26. 


3o6  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

have  been  attached,  one  after  another,  to  the  sound  or 
form  in  accordance  with  some  principle  of  unification  by 
which  language  is  developed.  The  sentence  is  a  unity  in 
which  the  subject  is  identified  with  the  predicate. 

(2.)  Language  is  man's  highest  expression  of  the  con- 
sciousness of  truth.  What  is  known  as  natural  language, 
such  as  gesture,  pantomime,  and  so  forth,  may  represent 
some  phases  of  truth  more  vividly  than  words,  but  it  can 
never  present  the  variety  in  unity  which  is  expressed  in 
words,  and  if  the  meaning  of  the  sentence  were  made  as 
vivid  as  the  gesture  the  sentence  would  be  the  stronger. 
What  modes  of  unifying  thought  a  child  may  have  before 
it  learns  to  use  language  we  can  not  tell,  but  the  prob- 
ability is  that  little  progress  is  made  by  it  in  thinking,  and 
when  a  language  is  learned  all  other  modes  are  forgotten, 
if  any  have  existed. 

(3.)  It  is  not  the  sole  purpose  of  language  to  express 
thoughts  to  others.  It  is  the  form  in  which  the  unification 
of  thought  is  developed  most  clearly  in  the  consciousness 
of  the  person  using  the  language.  The  mind  can  not 
use  objects  themselves,  even  pictured  by  the  imagination, 
with  sufficient  facility  to  develop  thought.  It  requires 
some  more  convenient  means  that  can  be  used  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  objects.  The  parts,  qualities,  and  actions  of 
objects  are  representatively  unified  in  language,  and  this 
means  the  mind  is  capable  of  using  in  bringing  out 
thought  clearly  in  its  own  consciousness. 

Law  I. — Some  Activities  of  the  Will  Terminate 
IN  the  Unifications  of  Language. 

Proof, — In  a  large  sense,  at  least,  language  is  artificial. 
It  makes  little  difference  what  language  a  child  learns, 
one  is  no  more  natural  than  another.     A  term  expresses 


LANGUAGE    A    UNIFICATION.  307 

for  him  only  what  he  has  unified  in  it.  No  part  of  lan- 
guage expresses  thought  that  has  not  first  been  put  into 
it.  In  thus  unifying  thought  in  language  each  one  must 
exercise  his  own  will.  When  this  unification  is  made 
with  clearness  of  consciousness,  the  mind  seeks  no  higher 
expression  of  truth. 

Law  II.  — The  Unifications  of  Language  are 
Amongst  the  Earliest  Developments  of  Mind. 

First  Proof. — In  childhood,  in  nations,  and  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  race,  there  is  uniformly  a  development 
of  language  as  the  earliest  exhibition  of  the  exercise  of 
the  power  of  connected  thought.  Not  only  has  no  com- 
munity ever  been  known  to  exist  without  a  language,  but 
the  development  of  language  never  falls  behind  other 
manifestations  of  intellectual  progress  in  the  stage  of  its 
development. 

Second  Proof. — In  our  own  consciousness  we  are  aware 
that  our  struggles  after  truth  begin  with  an  attempt  to 
identify  the  activities  of  the  mind  in  the  form  of  language. 
A  new  word  mastered,  a  new  form  of  reasoning  made  fa- 
miliar, is  a  new  revelation  of  truth. 

Third  Proof. — There  are  many  other  striking  evidences 
of  the  dependence  of  thought  upon  the  development  of 
language,  but  there  is  one  of  such  conclusive  character 
that  it  alone  should  be  deemed  a  sufficient  demonstration. 
It  is  the  case  of  Laura  Bridgman,  already  referred  to. 
She  was  surrounded  in  childhood  by  all  the  ordinary  stim- 
ulants to  mental  exercise,  but  nothing  seemed  to  unseal  the 
springs  of  intellectual  life.  Her  later  development  shows 
that  she  had  an  abundance  of  native  mental  power.  When 
her  mind  took  its  first  start,  at  the  age  of  eight,  she  re- 
ceived no  new  sense.     At  this  time,  as  always  from  in- 


3o8  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

fancy,  she  was  dependent  almost  entirely  upon  the  sense 
of  touch  for  knowledge  of  the  external  world.  What 
change  occurred  to  give  her  intellect  its  first  impulse  ? 
Others  had  communicated  their  thoughts  to  her,  and  she 
her  thoughts  to  them,  so  far  as  she  had  had  thoughts.  It 
can  not  have  been  that  she  now  first  became  conscious  of 
the  fact  of  communication  between  friends.  There  is  but 
one  fact  to  which  we  can  refer  the  change,  however  we 
explain  the  causal  influence.  Her  new  friend  and  teacher 
brought  her  to  associate  the  forms  of  a  few  words  with 
objects  which  they  represented.  But  the  words  were  only 
objects  to  be  placed  with  other  objects  at  a  given  signal. 
The  words  were  taken  to  pieces,  and  at  the  very  moment 
when  she  became  conscious  of  the  power  to  put  the  letters 
together  and  make  the  words,  she  showed  signs  of  intel- 
lectual life.  From  this  time  forward  intellect  and  language 
grew  together.  There  was  here  a  synthesis  of  differences 
in  which  the  unity  was  distinct,  and  the  elements  also,  not 
only  distinct  in  themselves,  but  held  in  distinct  conscious- 
ness as  making  up  the  unity.  The  mind  could  pass  from 
the  unity  to  the  elements  and  from  the  elements  to  the 
unity  with  sufftcient  ease  to  give  pleasure  to  the  mere  exer- 
cise of  voluntary  thought.  There  is  nothing  else  that  will 
so  unify  variety  in  conscious  unity  of  thought  as  the  use 
of  language. 

Observations. 

(I.)  This  Law  shows  the  importance  of  cultivating  the 
power  of  language.  It  must  be  developed  not  only  in  the 
beginning  of  intellectual  growth,  but  at  every  step  of 
progress.  The  Law  is  broad  and  applies  to  the  initial 
step  of  every  new  development  of  thought  in  individuals 
and  nations.  Civilization  and  language  go  hand  in  hand. 
A  race  lives  while  its  language  lives.     The  state  of  a  na- 


LANGUAGE    A    UNIFICATION.  309 

tion's  literature  represents  the  stage  of  its  life.  The  ornate 
languages  of  Asia  truly  represent  the.  Oriental  imagination. 
The  subtle  language  of  Greece  represents  the  keen  intel- 
lect and  fine  feeling  of  the  Athenians.  The  methodical 
language  of  Rome  represents  a  nation  of  law. 

(11.)  It  will  be  seen  from  this  Law,  in  connection  with 
the  Laws  of  Consciousness,  that  the  language  in  which 
thought  is  unified  is  to  be  used  to  aid  in  bringing  the  uni- 
fication into  its  distinct  forms  in  consciousness.  While  a 
teacher  should  guard  against  supposing  that  words  alone 
are  sufficient  to  develop  thought,  he  should  seek  to  make 
himself  expert  in  their  use  as  helps  in  the  development. 

(III.)  It  must  not  be  overlooked  that  to  develop  thought 
by  language  is  a  voluntary  act.  It  requires  strong  exercise 
of  the  will  to  hold  discriminations  of  perception,  memory, 
reason,  and  so  forth,  with  distinctness,  while  unification  is 
perfected  in  the  form  of  a  sentence.  It  is  not  enough  for 
a  pupil  to  say  he  has  the  idea.  If  he  has  it  clearly  in 
mind  it  should  be  in  the  form  of  words.  It  is  a  dissipating 
indulgence  to  stop  short  of  putting  ideas  into  this  form. 

(IV.)  Logical  and  complete  forms  of  expression  should 
be  insisted  upon,  if  the  power  of  reasoning  and  clearness 
of  thought  are  to  be  cultivated.  There  is  perhaps  more 
unwise  indulgence  in  these  respects  than  in  any  other  di- 
rection in  class  recitations.  If  a  thought  is  well  enough 
expressed  for  a  teacher  who  knows  what  ought  to  be  said 
to  guess  at  the  meaning,  this  is  often  counted  as  sufficient. 
Pupils  thus  indulged  have  so  little  self-control,  that  they 
will  almost  invariably  break  down  if  pressed  to  state  ex- 
actly what  they  mean. 

(V.)  As  language  is  an  aid  in  unifying  variety,  from  the 
fact  of  its  comprehending  so  much  in  simple  forms,  its 
usefulness  is  increased  in  proportion  as  it  is  made  simple 
and  concise.     Formulas  for  explaining  Arithmetical  exam- 


3IO  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

pies  and  Grammatical  relations  are  often  a  hindrance 
rather  than  a  help,  from  containing  so  much  that  has  no 
application  to  the  particular  case.  They  may  be  useful 
helps,  but  when  used  they  should  be  so  mastered  that  any 
words  that  are  not  required  will  naturally  be  omitted.  It 
should  be  an  invariable  rule  that  no  form  of  words 
should  be  allowed  that  does  not  exactly  express  the  thought 
intended. 

II.    ART. 

(i.)  The  word  art  here  denotes  the  use  of  means  to  do 
something,  or  create  some  manual  production.  Sailing  a 
vessel  belongs  to  the  art  of  navigation ;  making  a  table, 
to  the  art  of  carpentry,  and  painting  a  picture,  to  the  art 
of  painting. 

(2.)  Arts  are  classified  as  useful  and  ornamental.  The 
useful  arts  have  for  their  end  the  doing  or  producing  of 
something  that  will  contribute  to  physical  well-being;  the 
ornamental  arts  seek  to  please  the  taste.  Taste  is  em- 
ployed in  the  productions  of  the  useful  arts,  and  the 
ornamental  arts  require  the  exercise  of  a  manual  skill 
that  has  no  especial  reference  to  taste.  Both  kinds  of  art 
contribute  to  happiness. 

Law  III. — Some  Activities  of  the  Will  Terminate 
IN  Art. 

First  Proof. — By  the  exercise  of  the  will  we  observe 
actions  and  objects  of  sense-perception  until  we  form  con- 
ceptions of  them,  and  by  a  still  further  exercise  of  the  will 
we  reproduce  them,  or  make  objects  like  them.  In  the 
same  way  we  invent  new  forms  which  we  embody  in  con- 
crete products.  In  these  cases  there  are  two  distinct 
exercises  of  the  will;  in  the  first,  the  will  unifies  by  holding 


ART   A    UNIFICATION.  31I 

the  energy  of  the  mind  to  the  formation  of  conceptions, 
which  are  unifications  of  knowledge;  and  in  the  second, 
the  will  uses  the  physical  powers  for  action.  In  either  ex- 
ercise the  demands  of  the  mind  for  unification  may  be 
satisfied,  but  the  form  of  the  effect  depends  upon  the  pur- 
pose which  actuates  the  will. 

Second  Proof. — By  the  exercise  of  the  will  we  unify 
aesthetic  discriminations  in  the  form  of  artistic  products. 
The  demand  for  unification  is  satisfied  if  the  product 
answers  the  requirements  of  taste. 

Law  IV. — The  Unifications  of  Art  are  Higher 
Than  the  Unifications  of  Conception. 

First  Proof. — It  is  a  common  experience  for  one  to 
think  he  knows  what  a  thing  is,  or  how  to  do  a  thing  be- 
cause he  has  seen  the  thing  or  the  act,  and  then  find  him- 
self very  ignorant  when  asked  about  details.  The  mind 
is  satisfied  with  indistinct  and  partial  discriminations  and 
unifications,  but  when  the  attempt  to  do  or  produce  a 
thing  is  made,  the  elements  must  all  be  present  and  in 
their  places,  or  the  product  will  reveal  a  lack  of  unity. 

Second  Proof. — That  the  works  of  ornamental  arts  are 
higher  unifications  than  the  conceptions  of  them  before 
the  effort  of  production,  is  manifest  not  only  in  the  fact 
that  the  conception  is  more  and  more  perfected  by  the 
requirements  of  the  product  as  action  progresses,  but  also 
by  the  fact  that  in  general  little  advancement  is  made  in 
the  understanding  and  appreciation  of  works  of  art  unless 
one  does  something  in  the  way  of  producing  them.  Some 
enjoyment  of  them  may  be  had  but  not  of  the  highest 
kind.  The  conception  of  a  product  involves  only  a 
knowledge  of  its  material  cause,  what  it  is;  to  produce, 
we  must  also  know  how  it  becomes. 


312  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 


Observations. 


(I.)  Action  and  production  applied  to  useful  arts  have 
three  advantages,  each  one  of  which  makes  it  important 
that  children  should  be  early  trained  in  habits  of  doing 
and  making  things.  First,  these  results  appeal  to  the 
senses,  and  are  more  easily  appreciated  than  mere  con- 
ceptions. Secondly,  they  are  higher  and  more  permanent 
unifications.  Thirdly,  they  require  the  more  complete 
exercise  of  the  will. 

(II.)  The  contemplative  feelings  have  not  been  classed 
with  the  practical  emotions,  because  activity  is  not  their 
end.  Yet  in  the  manual  process  of  producing  artistic 
work,  these  feelings  are  developed  to  a  higher  degree 
than  simply  in  the  act  of  contemplation,  because  the  dis- 
criminations are  of  necessity  more  various  and  exact. 
These  discriminations  can  not  be  unified  in  language. 
The  beauties  of  the  beautiful  and  the  sublimity  of  the 
sublime  can  not  be  set  forth  in  words.  The  eye  and 
ear  must  find  variety  not  to  be  expressed  by  articulate 
speech,  to  produce  these  feelings.  If  a  more  perfect  ap- 
preciation of  works  of  artistic  merit  is  to  be  produced 
than  comes  through  the  examination  of  these  works,  it 
must  be  by  exercise  in  drawing,  designing,  painting,  and 
so  forth. 

III.  conduct. 

By  conduct  is  meant  action  directed  by  a  consciousness 
of  our  relations  to  other  conscious  beings,  or  by  duty  to- 
wards ourselves.  It  embraces  all  those  actions  that  are 
excited  by  the  practical  feelings.  It  is  involved  in  bus- 
iness ;  in  duties  to  the  state,  the  family,  and  society ;  and 
in  the  principles  of  religion  and  morality. 


conduct  a  unification.  313 

Law  v. — Some  Activities  of  the  Will  Terminate 
IN  Conduct. 

Proof. — Conduct  requires  an  activity  of  doing  and  pro- 
duction which  imply  an  exercise  of  will,  and  also  a  mo- 
tive excited  by  the  practical  feelings,  to  make  it  conduct. 

Law  VI. — Conduct  is  the  Highest  Unification  of 
THE  Human  Mind. 

Proof. — It  has  already  been  shown  that  doing  is  a 
higher  unification  than  conception,  and  that  production  is 
a  higher  unification  than  observation  or  contemplation. 
Conduct  includes  these  activities,  and  adds  the  elements 
of  motives  that  must  be  discriminated  amongst  the  most 
varied  and  complex  relations  of  which  we  are  conscious. 

Observations. 

(I.)  This  Law  emphasizes  the  observations  made  con- 
cerning the  importance  of  conserving  energy  by  carrying 
out  the  purpose  of  the  practical  feelings  into  action.  It  is 
not  only  conserving  energy,  but  it  is  developing  the  high- 
est energy  of  life. 

(11.)  The  term  practical  is  generally  applied  to  activ- 
ities which  have  only  a  physical  end  in  view,  or  at  least 
the  term  does  not  seem  to  imply  any  end  beyond  this. 
The  analysis  of  the  feelings  and  the  Laws  of  the  will  show 
a  much  higher  practical  end.  The  lower  material  ends 
are  important  enough  in  their  place,  they  are  indeed  es- 
sential, but  they  are  not  all;  and  as  we  rise  in  the  scale 
of  being  they  become  less  and  less  in  comparison  with 
our  increasing  consciousness  of  the  higher  practical  ends. 

(HI.)  Notwithstanding  the  great  complexity  of  the  uni- 

S.  E.— 27. 


314  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

fications  of  perfect  conduct,  its  development  begins  almost 
with  the  beginning  of  the  lowest  rational  action.  But  care 
should  be  taken  not  to  attempt  the  application  of  complex 
principles  to  children.  There  are  many  simple  principles 
of  conduct  to  be  enforced,  and  conformity  to  these  should 
be  faithfully  required. 

(IV.)  From  the  last  Law  we  may  infer  that  study 
which  leads  to  an  analysis  of  the  relations  between  con- 
scious beings,  stimulates  the  practical  emotions,  and  directs 
to  the  most  perfect  conduct,  must  always  have  the  highest 
place  in  the  development  of  mind.  This  does  not  exclude 
the  principles  of  physics  but  embraces  them,  and  seeks  to 
unify  them  with  the  knowledge  of  higher  relations.  Those 
who  treat  the  lower  unities  of  material  forms  and  the 
higher  unities  as  antagonistic,  who  think  that  physical 
science  and  the  service  required  by  the  highest  practical 
emotions  are  inconsistent  with  each  other,  and  whose  in- 
tellectual unities  are  all  confined  to  one  of  these  ends 
without  thought  of  the  other,  while  they  may  not  formally 
deny  the  existence  of  either  class  of  discriminations,  yet 
narrow  their  own  minds  to  holding  in  consciousness  the 
variety  involved  in  one  part  only  of  experience.  Those 
who  seek  to  identify  the  practical  emotions  under  the 
phenomena  of  matter,  logically  exclude  from  their  unifica- 
tions the  higher  elements  of  motive,  and  the  result  of  their 
effort  must  be  one  of  the  lower  unities  of  knowledge. 

(V.)  On  the  one  hand  we  can  not  consistently  exclude 
from  complete  knowledge  either  the  lowest  discriminations 
of  matter  or  the  highest  principles  of  conduct,  and  on  the 
other  hand  we  can  not  unify  the  discriminations  of  motive 
under  physical  forms.  It  only  remains,  then,  so  to  de- 
velop the  practical  emotions  and  the  resulting  activities  of 
the  will  as  to  make  them  include  the  most  perfect  dis- 
criminations of  material  phenomena,  and  use  them  for  the 


CONDUCT    A    UNIFICATION. 


315 


highest  purposes  of  Hfe.  The  peculiar  value  and  impor- 
tance of  using  material  forms  and  relations  in  developing 
the  mnid  have  been  noticed  under  the  Laws  of  Physio- 
logical Relations  and  Reflective  Consciousness  and  else- 
where. There  is  a  tendency  to  give  larger  place  to  this 
element  in  education.  But  there  has  been  Uttle  effort  to 
unify  this  knowledge  under  the  higher  relations,  and  unless 
it  can  be  made  to  contribute  to  better  conduct  amongst 
men  and  nations  its  real  value  will  be  much  diminished. 


CONCLUDING   CHAPTER. 

T  remains  to  sum  up  in  a  general  way 
the  more  important  practical  lessons  which 
our  science  teaches. 


I.  COMPEL  ANALYTIC  ACTIVITY. 

1.  This  lesson  is  found  on  every  page  of  the  preceding 
work.  We  began  with  it  in  our  Introduction.  There  we 
found  it  the  lesson  of  common  experience,  and  raised  the 
question  of  its  fundamental  importance  in  the  development 
of  thought.  Later  it  was  found  to  be  at  the  beginning  of 
all  mental  activity,  and  its  essential  importance  found 
statement  in  the  General  Law  of  Mental  Development. 
The  Special  Laws  are  all  either  based  on  the  primary  ne- 
cessity of  Analysis,  or  they  assume  it.  The  growth  of 
thought,  of  feeling,  and  of  volition  begins  in  Analysis. 

2.  It  has  been  shown  that  the  effort  and  direction  of 
Analysis  are  dependent  upon  external  stimuli  and  the  ex- 
ercise of  native  energy,  and  that  within  certain  limits  they 
are  subject  to  control,  alike  by  the  teacher  in  the  use  of 
stimuli,  and  by  the  taught  in  maintaining  and  directing 
attention.  Much  of  the  effort  in  this  work  has  been  to  set 
forth  the  way  in  which  the  mind  can  best  be  led  to  make 
Analysis.  In  the  first  place,  it  may  be  said  that  the  study 
of  such  a  science  as  this,  requiring  as  it  does  the  practice 
of  the  most  careful  discriminations,  is  one  of  the  best 
stimuli  which  can  be  presented  to  a  mind  that  is  prepared 

(316) 


ANALYSIS    TO    BE    STIMULATED.  317 

to  grapple  with  the  questions  raised.  In  the  second  place, 
it  has  been  the  endeavor  to  present  the  subject  in  the  form 
most  completely  Analytic.  But  it  has  been  the  chief 
study  to  discover  and  present  the  Laws  in  accordance 
with  which  different  motives  stimulate  the  mind  in  differ- 
ent directions,  and  also  those  in  accordance  with  which 
the  mind  maintains  its  own  activities  and  determines  their 
form. 

3.  The  importance  of  Analysis  in  the  development  of 
knowledge  has  been  shown.  We  have  seen  that  the  intel- 
lectual faculties  lie  dormant  until  the  mind  is  brought  to 
distinguish  differences  by  the  stimulus  of  external  objects, 
and  that  each  of  the  faculties  grows,  and  each  particular 
form  of  knowledge  is  developed,  only  as  a  variety  of  dis- 
criminations is  made.  The  stimulus  of  differences  is  the 
force-liberator,  as  the  Germans  would  call  it,  the  releaser 
of  latent  force  spoken  of  on  page  38  of  this  work,  that  de- 
velops the  potential  energy  of  the  mind  into  a  kinetic 
energy  acting  in  the  direction  of  the  difference  pre- 
sented. The  teacher  must  use  this  to  excite  the  activity 
of  knowledge,  and  the  learner  must  exert  his  own  power 
in  maintaining  and  directing  the  attention,  and  fixing  the 
energies  on  the  differences  presented.  Other  things  being 
equal,  one's  knowledge  and  intellectual  power  must  be 
valued  in  proportion  to  the  variety  of  forms  to  which  the 
mind  is  accustomed.  The  teacher  should  be  so  thoroughly 
furnished  for  each  lesson  that  if  he  fails  to  elicit  mental 
activity  by  presenting  truth  in  one  view,  he  may  immedi- 
ately offer  another  side  to  the  mind,  and  another,  until  a 
discrimination  is  found  that  awakens  recognition.  This  is 
the  active  side  of  his  work  as  an  instructor,  and  it  calls 
for  the  utmost  readiness  and  diligence. 

4.  Difference  is  not  less  the  key  that  unlocks  the  feel- 
ings.    The  sense  of  harmony  can  not  be  developed  by  a 


3l8  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

monotone,  nor  the  sense  of  the  beautiful  by  a  straight  h'ne. 
So  evident  is  this  that  Variety  in  Unity  has  formed  the 
theme  of  endless  eulogy  in  works  of  Rhetoric  and  Art, 
whenever  authors  have  sought  to  set  forth  the  methods  by 
which  the  aesthetic  emotions  are  stirred. 

No  one  cares  to  deny  that  it  is  the  harmonious  combina- 
tion of  the  many  in  the  one  that  excites  the  highest  feel- 
ings. But  there  is  not  the  same  appreciation  of  the  fact 
that  it  requires  an  analysis  as  critical  to  make  the  combina- 
tion harmonious,  and  to  distinguish  between  a  true  and  a 
false  feeling,  as  is  required  to  distinguish  between  true 
and  false  reasoning.  The  common  aphorism,  *' There  is 
no  disputing  about  taste,"  and  the  moral  dictum,  ''Each 
man  is  right  in  obeying  his  own  conscience,"  are  often 
used  as  though  taste  and  conscience  were  ultimate  units 
of  mental  energy,  and  not  unities  to  be  developed,  like 
the  cognitive  faculties,  by  a  many-sided  experience  which, 
by  analysis,  reveals  harmonious  combinations  to  the  native 
unifying  power  that  distinguishes  the  true  and  the  false  in 
feeling,  the  same  as  in  knowledge. 

In  the  chapter  on  the  feeHngs  it  was  shown  that  the 
sensibilities,  tastes,  and  emotions  are  developed  from  dis- 
criminations, the  same  as  imagination  or  reasoning,  and 
that  the  energy  rises  in  importance  in  proportion  to  the 
variety  and  clearness  with  which  the  •differences  are  held 
in  consciousness.  It  should  be  particularly  impressed 
upon  the  teacher  that  undiscriminating  sentiment  can  not 
be  relied  upon  in  any  activity  of  feeling.  It  is  not  true 
taste,  true  benevolence,  nor  true  morality.  A  person 
who  can  not  point  out  any  of  the  harmonies  of  a  picture, 
a  landscape,  or  an  oratorio  is  no  connoisseur  in  painting 
or  music,  however  much  native  capacity  for  development 
he  may  show.  No  other  book  so  abounds  in  expressions 
of  sympathy  for  the  poor  as  the  Bible,  but  we  are  not 


ANALYSIS    TO    BE    STIMULATED.  319 

told  that  the  disciples  of  him  who  said,  ''Give  to  him 
that  asketh  of  thee,"  went  about  distributing  denarii  to 
the  beggars  they  met  by  the  way,  and  that  thronged  the 
city  gates  through  which  they  passed.  It  is  not  without 
significance  that  when  Peter  was  asked  for  alms  by  the 
lame  man  at  the  gate  Beautiful,  he  gave  not  gold,  but 
healing,  a  gift  that,  with  all  its  other  advantages,  freed 
the  beneficiary  from  dependence  on  alms.  It  is  a  pat- 
tern of  discriminating  good  will;  and  every-where  the 
apostles  went  about  thus  doing  good.  As  benevolence  is 
thus  lifted  above  the  sphere  of  mere  sentiment,  so  moral 
duties  are  lifted  above  the  control  of  undiscriminating 
impulse.  Perhaps  the  moral  nature  may  be  so  perverted 
that  it  is  impossible  to  form  reliable  moral  judgments,  but 
there  is  no  way  to  correct  and  stimulate  conscience  but 
by  discriminating  the  qualities  of  acts. 

5.  If  the  need  of  Analysis  has  been  inadequately  ac- 
knowledged in  the  usual  consideration  of  the  feelings,  it 
has  been  almost  entirely  ignored  in  the  treatment  of  the 
will.  Yet  it  is  in  this  culmination  of  mental  activity  that 
the  need  of  ready  and  accurate  Analysis  is  most  pressing; 
for  the  moment  of  activity  quickly  passes,  and  mistakes 
of  conduct  can  not  be  recalled.  As  it  is  the  distinction 
of  color,  form,  and  fragrance  that  gives  character  to  our 
perception  of  a  rose,  as  it  is  the  distinction  of  right  and 
wrong  that  gives  character  to  conscience,  so  it  is  the  dis- 
tinction of  motives  to  action  that  gives  character  to  a  voli- 
tion. So  little  have  men  been  wont  to  make  a  sharp  dis- 
tinction between  Analysis  and  Synthesis  in  treating  of  the 
will,  that  the  element  of  Analysis  is  often  left  out  of  the 
account  in  considering  a  voluntary  act  without  exposing 
the  exact  error  of  an  illogical  conclusion.  We  have  seen 
that  synthesis  is  due  to  the  native  tendency  of  an  active 
mental  energy.     If  we  leave  the  Analytic  element  out  of 


320  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

our  consideration  of  voluntary  activity,  there  is  left  only 
the  synthetic  or  natural  tendency,  and  we  are  logically 
driven  to  a  belief  in  the  irresponsibility  of  human  action 
and  even  fatalism.  All  feel  that  there  ought  to  be  some 
escape  from  this  conclusion,  but  while  we  say  it  can  not 
be  true,  we  confine  the  attention  in  considering  the  will 
to  the  final  culmination  in  action,  which  results  from  a 
synthetic  impulse,  and  when  a  disputant  chooses  to  lead 
us  on  to  the  conclusion  of  fatahsm  it  is  difficult  to  detect 
the  fallacy,  for  it  lies  outside  of  things  considered. 

But  while  the  element  of  synthesis,  which  is  manifest  in 
the  final  determination  of  the  will,  is  a  natural  tendency, 
like  the  force  of  gravitation  in  a  falling  body,  there  is 
always  opposed  to  this  the  power  of  Analysis,  by  which 
variety  may  be  held  before  the  mind,  and  synthesis  de- 
layed and  modified.  It  is  in  this  Analytic  power  that  the 
freedom  of  the  will  consists,  as  we  may  see  if  we  will  ex- 
amine an  after-judgment  of  conduct.  If  we  have  gone 
wrong  or  made  a  failure,  we  condemn  ourselves,  not 
simply  because  we  might  have  done  differently,  but  be- 
cause, if  we  had  examined  the  reasons  for  our  conduct 
more  carefully,  we  would  have  done  differently.  We  were 
not  satisfied  at  the  time  we  acted,  and  we  ought  to  have 
given  greater  consideration  to  motives  that  we  did  not 
carefully  weigh.  The  measure  of  our  self-condemnation 
will  depend  upon  the  motives  within  our  reach,  and  our 
ability  to  analyze  and  understand  them.  These  resources 
of  the  will  limit  our  real  freedom  in  the  case.  Analysis 
throws  light  on  the  pathway  of  human  conduct,  and  this 
is  the  condemnation,  that  men  love  darkness  rather  than 
light. 

Perhaps  men  mean  substantially  this  when  they  oppose 
to  the  idea  of  fatalism  the  fact  of  the  consciousness  of 
freedom.     But  the  two  arguments  do  not  seem  to  meet  on 


ANALYSIS   IN    VOLITION.  32 1 

a  common  ground.  The  one  is  an  argument  of  fact,  and 
is  convincing  for  practical  purposes ;  the  other  is  an  argu- 
ment of  reason,  and  an  appeal  is  taken  from  the  inference 
of  fact  on  the  ground  that  we  are  so  often  deceived  by  ap- 
pearances. But  when  we  find  Analysis  opposed  to  Syn- 
thesis in  the  activity  of  the  will,  we  find  a  basis  for  free- 
dom in  an  opposition  of  forces  that  runs  through  every 
manifestation  of  mental  energy.  Not  all  the  forces  of 
light,  electricity,  chemical  affinity,  and  so  forth,  have  yet 
been  identified  with  attraction,  and  reduced  to  a  common 
law  of  activity.  Perhaps  this  may  be  done  in  the  future. 
But  there  is  one  force  that  seems  necessarily  irreconcilable 
with  attraction.  The  force  of  repulsion  has  no  known 
character  in  common  with  attraction,  and  it  is  on  the 
combined  activity  of  the  two  that  nature  depends  for  form 
and  stability.  In  like  manner  Analysis  and  Synthesis  are 
ever  present  and  opposing  forces  in  mental  activity,  and 
on  their  combined  influence  depend  the  form  and  perma- 
nency of  thought,  feeling,  and  will. 

This  view  does  not  regard  the  freedom  of  the  human 
will  as  absolute  and  unconditioned,  but  as  possible  on 
conditions  that  may  be  realized,  and  as  actual  within  cer- 
tain variable  limitations.  It  meets  the  argument  of  fatalism 
on  a  common  ground,  opposing  the  freedom  of  Analysis 
to  the  native  tendency  to  Synthesis ;  and,  what  is  of  great- 
est moment,  it  shows  how  the  will  is. to  be  developed,  and 
points  out  the  way  in  which  the  bounds  of  its  freedom  are 
to  be  enlarged.  So  long  as  the  will  has  the  power  of 
choice,  it  is  capable  of  freedom ;  so  long  as  it  holds  before 
itself  two  motives  and  refrains  from  decision,  it  is  actually 
engaged  in  a  free  exercise  with  respect  to  the  thing  to  be 
determined  upon ;  and  to  whatever  extent  it  discriminates 
motives  with  reference  to  acting,  to  that  extent  it  exercises 
freedom  with  respect  to  the  act.     Freedom  of  action  ceases 


322  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

as  soon  as  the  will  makes  a  decision  or  ceases  to  discrim- 
inate motives.  The  will  is  therefore  to  be  developed  in 
accordance  with  the  same  laws  as  the  other  mental  facul- 
ties, and  the  character  of  its  decisions  must  be  determined 
by  Analysis,  the  same  as  the  character  of  a  perception. 

If  it  be  thought  by  any  one  that  this  Analysis  is  an  ac- 
tivity of  cognition  rather  than  of  the  will,  let  him  consider 
in  the  first  place,  what  has  been  said  of  the  intimate  re- 
lations of  cognition,  feeling,  and  volition,  and  that  cogni- 
tion must  always  precede  volition;  and  then  remember 
that  it  is  the  province  of  the  will  to  make  and  control  the 
Analysis  of  motives  as  such,  for  it  is  only  to  the  will  that 
any  thing  can  appeal  as  a  motive.  If  it  seems  to  any 
that  the  will  must  determine  to  discriminate  before  it  ana- 
lyzes motives,  that  a  synthetic  act  must  precede  the  first 
act  of  Analysis,  and  that  we  are  therefore  driven  to  con- 
sider the  first  act  of  the  will  as  necessitated,  let  them  con- 
sider what  has  been  said  with  reference  to  the  order  in 
which  discrimination  and  unification  are  developed.  They 
will  see  that  the  free  act  of  Analysis  implies  only  the  pos- 
sible forms  of  determinate  Synthesis,  not  their  actual 
development,  as  an  antecedent  condition  of  its  own  ex- 
ercise. 

6.  Finally,  it  must  be  urged  that  Analysis  is  opposed 
to  the  natural  indolence  of  the  mind,  as  has  before  been 
shown,  and  the  teacher  must  be  prepared  to  present  many 
varieties  of  stimulus,  and  adapt  them  to  the  condition, 
native  power,  and  stage  of  development  of  each  pupil. 
The  kinds  of  stimulus  that  may  be  presented  and  the 
manner  of  presenting  them  under  different  conditions 
have  been  set  forth  in  a  general  way,  but  a  systematic 
treatment  of  these  subjects  belongs  properly  to  the  prov- 
ince of  Methods.  But,  with  all  the  help  one  can  get  from 
books  and  teachers,  he  must  rely  largely  on  his  own  in- 


ANALYSIS    IN    VOLITION.  323 

genuity  to  discover  the  actual  stimulus  best  suited  to  a  par- 
ticular case  and  the  way  in  which  it  may  be  best  pre- 
sented. 


II.  TEST  THE  FORMS  OF  SYNTHESIS. 

1.  Having  dwelt  so  minutely  on  the  importance  of  com- 
pelling the  mind  to  analyze,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  go 
to  the  same  length  of  details  in  showing  the  importance 
of  securing  clear  and  exact  Synthetic  forms.  We  have 
already  learned  that  Analysis  and  Synthesis  are  always 
associated,  and  if  we  see  the  importance  of  clearness  of 
Unification  in  one  instance,  it  will  be  easy  to  apply  the 
same  reasoning  to  all  Synthesis. 

2.  Important  as  thoroughness  of  Analysis  is,  it  is  worth- 
less unless  accompanied  by  a  proper  Synthesis.  Indeed, 
it  is  the  unification  alone  that  has  fixed  value,  for  it  alone 
is  the  element  of  mental  growth,  and  the  analysis  is  valu- 
able only  in  relation  to  this  unification.  Analysis  presents 
variety,  and  Synthesis  can  only  contain  what  Analysis 
gives;  but  unless  the  elements  of  Analysis  are  unified, 
and  rightly  unified,  they  lose  their  importance.  But,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  energy  of  discrimination  is  not  always 
held  in  conscious  activity  until  unified,  and  often  only  the 
less  important  differences  are  unified,  while  those  that  are 
really  important,  partly  from  obscurity,  partly  from  imper- 
fect analysis,  and  partly  from  lack  of  active  energy,  are 
lost  to  consciousness,  and  a  distorted,  useless,  or  partial 
unity  is  the  result. 

3.  Not  only  are  there  distortion,  uselessness,  and  par- 
tiality, but  the  mind,  working  in  accordance  with  the 
Laws  of  Degradation,  naturally  tends  to  rest  in  such  im- 
perfect results.     The  analytic  energy  must  be  constandy 


324  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

Stimulated,  in  order  to  maintain  activity  in  sufficient  vari- 
ety to  lead  to  correct  unification.  When  a  proper  Syn- 
thesis is  completed,  there  is  no  need  of  further  analysis. 
Thus  the  forms  of  Synthetic  unity  are  a  test  of  analysis. 
If  this  unity  is  satisfactory,  we  cease  to  analyze.  For  in- 
stance :  An  ordinary  observer  in  a  forest  only  seeks  to 
recognize  different  kinds  of  trees,  as  oak,  pine,  maple, 
and  so  forth,  and  distinguishes  one  tree  from  another  only 
with  reference  to  this  classification.  When  he  is  able  to 
identify  each  tree  in  this  way,  he  is  satisfied.  But  the 
shipwright  must  know  the  different  kinds  of  oak,  for  he 
must  identify  a  wood  that  is  hard  and  strong,  and  that  will 
resist  the  action  of  the  elements.  The  ship  of  which  he 
thinks  has,  not  simply  a  keel  of  oak,  but  it  is  live-oak, 
and  he  must  learn  to  discriminate  a  live-oak  tree.  The 
unity  of  the  ship  properly  built  determines  the  limit  of  his 
desire  to  discriminate.  But  the  mind  is  ever  falling  short 
of  perfect  unities  of  thought.  As  only  the  most  expert 
builders  learn  to  distinguish  minutely  between  different 
grades  of  material  and  kinds  of  workmanship,  so  the  minds 
of  men  in  general  are  satisfied  with  imperfect  forms  of 
thought  and  action. 

4.  The  relative  importance  that  belongs  to  the  two  ele- 
ments, Analysis  and  Synthesis,  is  unequally  recognized  in 
different  mental  activities.  We  have  seen  how  analysis  is 
almost  wholly  ignored  in  considering  the  will.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  place  which  Synthesis  occupies  in  cogni- 
tion is  much  obscured  or  entirely  lost  sight  of.  Indeed, 
methods  of  investigation  and  subjects  of  study  have  been 
classified  as  Analytic  or  Synthetic,  much  as  though  but 
one  of  these  elements  of  activity  could  belong  to  the 
same  subject  or  method.  Such  a  classification  is  justifi- 
able only  in  the  case  of  methods  and  subjects  where  one 
of  the  elements  is  so  easy  and  natural  as  to  be  taken  for 


SYNTHESIS    TO    BE   TESTED.  325 

granted,  while  the  other  requires  the  principal  part  of  the 
energy  to  make  the  subject  clear.  But  sometimes  even 
when  the  energy  is  mainly  required  in  one  of  these  di- 
rections, care  is  needed  to  prevent  obscurity  and  error 
arising  from  imperfect  development  in  the  other.  In  the 
exercise  of  cognition  we  need  to  be  sure  that  the  ele- 
ments of  thought,  which  are  easily  conceived,  are  properly 
united.  A  description  of  some  object,  an  historical  ac- 
count, an  explanation  of  some  process,  may  be  followed 
with  the  entire  attention  and  an  apparently  perfect  under- 
standing, and  yet  lead  to  no  clear  conception  of  the  whole ; 
or  there  may  be  even  an  entirely  erroneous  conclusion. 

5.  We  have  seen  the  importance  of  unification  as  be- 
longing to  every  mental  activity,  and  have  examined  the 
Laws  in  accordance  with  which  the  mind  unifies,  and  we 
have  also  seen  that  the  forms  of  Synthesis  are  a  test  of 
Analysis.  But  it  is  difficult  to  determine  when  a  child  has 
gained  a  complete  Synthetic  form.  This  is  especially  true 
when  children  are  taught  in  classes.  What  has  been  said 
before  needs  to  be  repeated  here  with  emphasis,  that 
pupils  to  be  reached  at  all,  must  be  reached  as  individ- 
uals. The  working  of  the  individual  mind  must  be 
studied,  to  know  what  forms  of  thought  are  passing 
through  it.  These  forms  can  be  seen  only  in  the  child's 
expression  of  them.  Therefore  we  must  regard  Expres- 
sion as  the  test  of  unification.  Individual  expression 
must  be  called  out  again  and  again,  with  various  lights 
and  shades,  to  show  exactly  what  the  thought  is,  as  this 
is  the  only  thing  that  can  be  trusted  as  satisfactory  evi- 
dence of  the  forms  of  thought.  This  is  one  of  the  chief 
ends  of  questioning,  and  is  not  second  in  importance  to 
that  of  the  development  of  thought,  and  rules  for  methods 
of  questioning  should  take  this  end  into  consideration. 

But  expression  is  found  not  only  in  words.     It  is  quite 


326  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

as  definite  in  works  and  conduct.  The  manner  in  which 
one  expresses  himself  best  must  be  taken  as  the  surest 
indication  of  the  completeness  of  his  thought;  and  habits 
of  speaking,  writing,  doing,  making  things,  and  proper 
behavior,  should  be  cultivated,  that  children  may  be  able 
to  express  themselves  most  appropriately  under  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  hfe.  But  at  least  some  test  of  expression 
should  always  we  exacted,  and  it  should  not  be  taken  for 
granted  that  one  child  has  unified  a  thought  because  an- 
other is  able  to  express  it  with  propriety. 

III.  SEEK  THE  HIGHER  FORMS  OF  UNIFICATION. 

1.  We  have  seen  the  necessity  for  Synthesis,  to  secure 
permanency  of  form  in  mental  growth,  in  the  General 
Law  and  elsewhere.  But  there  are  degrees  of  perfection 
in  the  forms  of  unification,  and  grades  of  unities.  The 
conception  of  a  piece  of  metal  as  gold,  because  it  is  yel- 
low, is  an  imperfect  identification,  because  there  must  be 
other  qualities  to  make  it  gold.  To  call  the  piece  gold  is 
a  higher  identification  than  to  call  it  metal,  for  it  identifies 
a  larger  number  of  characteristics  and  implies  more 
knowledge  of  the  piece  so  named.  To  call  a  man  a  ra- 
tional being  is  a  higher  identification  than  to  call  him  an 
animal,  for  it  identifies  the  higher  characteristics  of  his 
nature.  Synthesis  is  made  more  perfect  by  making 
analysis  more  complete,  and  this  point  has  been  suffi- 
ciently elaborated;  it  is  raised  in  grade  by  identifying 
with  more  comprehensive  or  higher  ends. 

2.  We  may  see  the  importance  of  identifying  things 
with  reference  to  comprehensive  ends  illustrated  in  the 
study  of  the  grammar  of  a  language.  If  studied  only 
with  reference  to  the  forms  of  words,  it  appeals  to  but  a 
narrow   range   of   mental   activities,   and  develops  but  a 


HIGHER    UNITIES    TO    BE    SOUGHT.  327 

narrow  mind.  The  importance  of  a  comprehensive  end 
does  not  imply  inability  to  find  enough  in  more  limited 
spheres  to  engage  our  time,  but  upon-  the  fact  that  only 
the  more  comprehensive  ends  call  forth  our  powers  in  all 
their  variety.  The  German  scholar  who  is  said  to  have 
lamented  that  he  had  squandered  his  life  in  attempting  to 
investigate  the  whole  of  Greek  accidence,  when  he  might 
have  accomplished  something  if  he  had  confined  himself 
to  the  dative  case,  would  certainly  have  found  enough  in 
this  to  keep  him  busy;  but  he  would  have  been  only  the 
more  completely  shut  out  from  the  great  world  of  thought 
in  which  his  fellow  men  were  moving,  and  for  which  his 
own  mind  was  clearly  designed.  If  the  facts  and  laws 
of  grammar  can  not  be  made  to  appear  as  elements  in 
the  expression  of  thought,  and  unified  with  the  most  com- 
prehensive view  of  mental  development  as  manifest  in 
speech,  it  is  not  of  sufficient  consequence  to  be  taught. 
But  the  true  study  of  grammar  is  the  study  of  thought 
expressed  in  the  form  of  words,  and  when  this  compre- 
hensive end  is  kept  in  view,  the  study  is  of  great  educa- 
tional value. 

The  importance  of  unities  of  a  high  order  may  be 
seen  by  considering  the  different  ends  set  before  the 
young  to  stimulate  them  to  activity.  With  the  same 
natural  endowments  and  industry,  children  brought  up  at 
the  court  of  kings  gain  a  more  commanding  ability  than 
a  poor  peasant  boy  who  never  has  the  opportunity  of 
learning  the  methods  and  principles  that  are  involved  in 
governing  a  state.  One  may  acquire  great  skill  in  laying 
brick  or  braiding  straw,  it  will  not  save  him  from  the 
necessity  of  economizing  his  expenses  and  practicing 
much  self-denial,  unless  he  also  learns  how  such  things 
stand  related  to  the  greater  enterprises  of  life,  and  occu- 
pies his  skill  in  seeking  to  achieve  some  higher  end.    The 


328  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

merchant  who  appears  at  his  best  in  selling  a  spool  of 
thread  or  a  paper  of  pins,  the  scholar  who  can  do  nothing 
else  as  well  as  he  can  add  a  column  of  figures  or  parse  a 
sentence,  the  general  who  thinks  of  nothing  but  drilling  a 
battalion,  will  never  accomplish  much  good  for  the  world. 
It  must  not  be  inferred  that  perfection  in  trifles  is  under- 
rated, but  trifles  should  not  be  the  end  one  seeks;  and  the 
highest  practical  perfection  even  in  trifles,  can  only  be 
gained  when  they  are  considered  in  their  relations  to  great 
results.  The  great  end  should  be  kept  in  view,  to  shape 
the  trifling  act. 

3.  From  the  above  considerations  we  may  learn  the 
importance  of  prudence  in  the  choice  of  subjects  of 
thought  and  study,  and  of  giving  our  best  thoughts  to  the 
highest  ends.  There  is  great  range  for  choice,  but  there 
are  also  Hmitations  that  call  for  wisdom  in  choosing. 
One  should  consider  first,  what  things  are  in  themselves 
most  worthy;  secondly,  what  things  he  has  capacity  for; 
thirdly,  what  things  are  fundamental  to  the  greatest  va- 
riety of  results ;  and  fourthly,  what  things  fit  in  with  the 
active  influences  around  him. 

a.  Under  the  first  head  should  be  placed,  first  of  all, 
the  development  of  moral  character.  Unification  has 
been  commended  for  giving  permanency  to  forms  of 
activity.  Moral  character  is  the  basis  of  all  trust,  because 
it  is  found  to  be  the  most  constant  and  persistent  force  in 
the  intellectual  constitution.  It  is  unification  of  the 
highest  order.  Without  it  there  is  no  stability  or  cer- 
tainty in  human  action.  Not  only  should  sound  moral 
principles  be  inculcated  theoretically,  but  honesty  and  in- 
tegrity should  characterize  all  study,  work,  and  conduct. 

After  the  development  of  moral  character  should  be 
placed  that  of  the  other  intellectual  powers.  How  far 
these  should  be  treated  with  equal  consideration  to  secure 


HIGHEST    UNITIES    TO    BE    SOUGHT.  329 

symmetry,  and  how  far  some  specialty  should  be  given 
the  preference  to  secure  pre-eminence  in  some  one  thing 
or  because  of  special  fitness  of  native  capacity,  must  be 
left  to  be  settled  for  individual  cases.  The  Laws  of 
Correlation  warn  us  in  one  direction,  and  the  Laws  of 
Limitation  in  the  other.  The  extensive  range  of  subjects 
at  present  used  for  intellectual  development  has  led  to 
much  controversy  as  to  what  has  the  highest  claims  upon 
our  schools.  Considered  with  reference  to  their  intrinsic 
value  for  purposes  of  intellectual  development,  the  Laws 
of  Development  ought  to  help  us  in  arriving  at  some  con- 
clusion. Without  entering  upon  this  controversy,  how- 
ever, two  cautions  may  be  suggested  in  regard  to  the 
study  of  the  Natural  Sciences.  In  the  first  place,  there  is 
an  undoubted  tendency  to  study  them  with  low  aims. 
The  effect  of  this  should  be  guarded  against,  as  it  may  be, 
by  giving  a  due  portion  of  time  and  energy  to  the  study 
of  the  intellectual  sciences,  history,  and  literature,  and  by 
seeking  to  give  the  true  place  to  the  physical  in  its  rela- 
tions to  other  orders  of  being.  In  the  second  place,  there 
is  danger  that  the  study  of  material  forms  may  be  resorted 
to  from  indolence.  Since  they  appeal  directly  to  the 
senses,  the  unifications  are  easier,  and  if  one  does  not  at- 
tain to  the  highest  eminence,  he  can  at  least  make  some 
progress  with  less  expenditure  of  energy;  and  a  portion  of 
their  attractiveness,  it  is  to  be  feared,  is  dependent  upon 
the  Laws  of  Degradation.  The  further  these  sciences  are 
advanced  the  less  liable  they  are  to  this  danger,  and  in 
teaching  them  the  highest  results  of  the  sciences  should 
be  sought. 

Study  devoted  to  what  are  called  the  practical  ends  of 
life  should  be  placed  last  in  educational  importance,  and 
subsidiary  to  the  other  ends.  But  these  may  be  so  bound 
up  with  moral  responsibilities  as  to  place  them  among  the 

S.  E.     28. 


33©  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

first,  with  moral  character.  When  one  places  himself,  or 
is  placed  by  the  necessary  conditions  of  life,  under  practi- 
cal obligations  to  others,  practical  results  are  the  highest 
ends  for  which  he  can  strive.  All  else  should  bend  to  the 
call  of  duty. 

b.  In  considering  the  adaptation  of  one's  powers  we 
should  not  be  hasty  in  judgment,  but  consider  that  until 
there  has  been  a  fair  trial  of  each  it  is  unjust  to  decide 
with  positiveness  which  is  capable  of  most.  All  should 
be  tested  in  youth,  that  when  the  responsibilities  of  life 
come  the  powers  that  are  required  may  be  used  to  the 
best  advantage,  and  one  may  be  able  to  tell  what  he  can 
best  do.  The  highest  skill  can  be  attained  only  in  that  for 
which  one  is  best  adapted. 

c.  In  asking  what  things  are  fundamental  to  the  greatest 
variety  of  results  we  seek  comprehensiveness.  It  may  be 
said  in  general  that  the  subjects  taught  in  schools  have 
been  proved  by  long  experience  and  extensive  use  to  be 
adapted  in  the  highest  degree  to  the  various  purposes  of 
life.  It  was  for  this  reason  they  were  adopted,  and  it  is 
for  this  reason  they  have  maintained  their  position  through 
the  centuries.  Schools  and  studies  were  not  originally  in- 
vented to  discipline  the  mind  of  the  young,  but  to  render 
them  capable  of  certain  necessary  things.  As  capacity 
for  self-defense  and  for  acquiring  the  things  desired  grad- 
ually changed  from  the  physical  to  the  intellectual — as 
Sallust  has  said  with  respect  to  military  power— the  intel- 
lectual element  encroached  upon  the  physical.  The  term 
Liberal  Education  points  to  this  fact.  A  liberal  education 
was  one  that  was  adapted  to  a  free  man,  liberalis  homo. 
It  embraced  those  things  that  enabled  one  to  live  a  life 
becoming  a  free  man,  being  largely  intellectual,  but  em- 
bracing also  the  manual  art  of  war,  for  a  free  man  must 
be  a  soldier.     Slaves  were  instructed  in  the  arts  of  servile 


HIGHEST    UNITIES    TO    BE    SOUGHT.  33 1 

life.  In  this  way  the  studies  of  the  schools  have  had 
their  beginning  and  growth.  Those  that  have  proved 
their  worth  by  centuries  of  the  highest  usefulness  should 
not  be  thoughtlessly  thrown  out  of  the  school  curriculum. 
It  should  first  be  clearly  shown  that  they  are  less  use- 
ful in  the  present  condition  of  things  than  others  that 
might  take  their  place,  and  then  they  should  be  exchanged 
without  hesitation. 

A  few  subjects  should  be  specially  named.  Number, 
form,  and  mechanical  force  lie  at  the  foundation  of  the 
physical  universe  in  our  conception  of  it,  and  it  does  not 
seem  possible  ever  to  supersede  them.  Therefore  the 
Sciences  of  Arithmetic,  Geometry,  and  Mechanics  lie  at 
the  foundation  of  a  true  understanding  of  all  physics. 
These  studies  should  be  given  pre-eminence  in  any  course 
for  the  understanding  of  the  material  universe. 

d.  The  young  should  be  instructed  in  the  thoughts  that 
have  engaged  the  minds  of  men  in  the  past,  for  quite  an- 
other reason  than  because  they  are  likely  to  be,  in  their 
very  nature,  fundamental  to  a  large  variety  of  ends.  The 
race  is  making  steady  progress  towards  some  goal.  There 
are  blunders  here  and  failures  there,  but,  like  the  Alpine 
glacier,  winding  its  sinuous  way  around  cliffs,  through 
gorges,  over  granite  barriers,  and  anon  spreading  itself 
into  a  vast  sea,  but  ever  moving  its  mass  downward  a  lit- 
tle nearer  the  sunny  plain  below,  where  its  liquid  ice  melts 
and  unites  with  the  rain  that  falls  from  heaven ;  so  the 
dull  and  formless  intellect  of  man  is  ever  moving  slowly 
but  surely  forward;  now  solving  some  great  problem  of 
the  universe,  and  now  overcoming  some  hard  physical 
obstacle;  and  the  mass  will  ever  continue  to  move  for- 
ward until  each  individual  is  able  to  identify  all  truth,  as 
a  drop  of  water  from  the  glacier  moves  and  mingles  freely 
with   all   the   waters   of   the  boundless   ocean.     Without 


332  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

necessity  for  the  same  mistakes  and  loss  of  time,  it  has 
been  shown  that  the  mind  of  the  individual  is  developed 
along  the  same  lines  as  the  intelligence  of  the  race,  and 
individual  progress  is  in  this  direction.  If  then  the  child 
is  to  be  developed  in  harmony  with  the  most  truly  pro- 
gressive forces  about  him,  he  must  be  made  acquainted 
with  the  thoughts  that  survive  time.  He  should  be  made 
familiar  with  whatever  is  classic  in  literature,  science, 
and  art. 

4.  It  has  been  shown  that  the  natural  tendency  of  men- 
tal energy  is  to  drop  from  higher  to  lower  forms  of 
activity.  Nature  has  many  ways  of  economizing  force 
and  saving  it  from  dissipation.  Growing  vegetation  stores 
up  heat  that  would  otherwise  be  lost  in  space;  forces  in- 
terchange with  each  other  and  are  preserved;  the  waters 
of  the  sea  expand  and  rise,  and  are  carried  back  upon  the 
mountain  to  restore  there  the  conditions  of  life;  mist,  clouds, 
and  dust  in  the  atmosphere  check  the  loss  of  heat  by  ra- 
diation and  return  it  to  the  earth ;  but  still  it  requires  all 
the  mighty  force  of  the  sun's  heat  and  light  to  make  up 
for  the  waste  that  comes  in  spite  of  all  this  economy.  It 
need  not  be  considered  strange  if,  in  such  a  world,  it  re- 
quires constant  effort  to  keep  the  energy  of  the  mind  up 
to  the  plane  of  its  highest  possible  achievement.  The 
Law  of  Mental  Degradation  is  as  inexorable  as  the  Law 
of  Gravitation  of  Matter.  Indolence  is  first  to  be  over- 
come; next,  waywardness, — the  disposition  to  give  way  to 
every  passing  impulse  in  thought,  feeling,  and  action, — 
must  be  fought.  Then  comes  -the  struggle  against  the 
tendency  to  seek  low  aims  and  form  low  habits,  that  ab- 
sorb and  dissipate  all  the  strength  of  manhood.  The 
power  to  inspire  a  young  soul  with  noble  impulses  is  a 
qualification  of  the  first  rank.  Tlien  there  will  be  the 
temptation  to  take  the  easiest  road  to  apparent  success, 


HIGHEST    UNITIES    TO    BE    SOUGHT. 


333 


rather  than  the  harder  road  to  certain  eminence.  And, 
finally,  there  will  be  a  demand  for  that  judicious  advice 
that,  adding  the  tenderest  parental  interest  to  professional 
pride,  seeks  to  aid  the  young  man  in  his  choice  of  his 
life  work,  where  the  best  that  is  in  him  may  find  its  best 
expression. 


INDEX. 


Note. — Full-face  figures  refer 
are  to  subdivisions  of  chapters. 

Ability,  extraordinary,  late  de- 
velopment of,  104,  (  VIII.). 

Abstraction,  defined,  27. 

Acquisitive  faculty,  described, 
69,/;  how  developed,  215,  i. 

Activity,  kinds  of,  37. 

Activity,  mental,  37,  d;  sus- 
tained by  diversity,  81,  L.  IV.; 
exhausts  vitality,  83,  L.  V.; 
direction  of,  161,  L.  II. ;  im- 
portance of  completing,    167, 

(I)- 

Activity,  native,  99,  et  seq.; 
known  as  self-activity,  99,  i  ; 
source,  99,  L.  I.;  how  devel- 
oped, 105,  L.  II.;  how  stimu- 
lated, 106,  (I);  107,  (III.); 
how  directed,  108,  L.  Ill; 
119,  L.  IV.;  natural  stimulus 
of,  1 19,  ( I. ) ;  rewards  and  pun- 
ishments, 120,  ( II.);  gradation 
of  stimuli,  120,  (  III.);  but  one 
method  employed,  130,  (  IV.). 

Adaptation,  important,  47,  obs ; 
330,  b;  not  always  revealed 
early,  ib. 

Altruistic  feelings,  251,  (7) ; 
252. 

Analysis,  a  discrimination,  9,  4 ; 
stimulated  by  differences,  13; 
mind  strengthened  by,  18,  13; 
order  of,  128,  (I.);  130, 
(IV.);  to  be  stimulated  and 
directed,  316,  et  seq.;  deter- 
mines the  character  of  feelings, 
317,  4;  of  will,  319,  5;  op- 
posed to  indolence,  322,  6. 


to  the  page,  and  other  references 
L.  stands  for  Law. 

Analysis  and  synthesis,  7,  etseq.; 
associated  in  every  complete 
thought,  12 ;  actual  and  repre- 
sentative, and  real  and  ration- 
al, 28,  7. 

A  posteriori  and  a  priori,  32; 
33. 

Approbation,  an  early  motive, 
269,  (I.). 

A  priori,  uncertainty  concerning 
the  term,  91,  (3) ;  see  a  poste- 
riori. 

Art,  a  unification  of  volition, 
310,  L.  III. ;  higher  than 
conception,  311,  L.  IV.;  see 
science. 

Association,  cause  of  reproduc- 
tion, 220,  4;  how  strength- 
ened, 220,  L.  I.;  221,  L.  II.; 
222,  L.  III. ;  how  weakened, 
224,  L.  IV. ;  direction  of  ac- 
tivities affects,  225,  L.  V. 

Attention,  importance  of,  recog- 
nized, 181;  what  it  is,  182; 
directed  by  will,  162,  obs.;  se- 
quence of,  183,  4;  how  to  se- 
cure, 183,  5;  excited  by  emo- 
tion, 184,  L.  I.;  191,  (i); 
by  pain,  185,  (i);  by  curiosity, 
188,  et  seq.;  arbitrary  stimuli, 
187;  adaptation  of  stimuli  by 
Tate,  190,  (  V.) ;  rational  stim- 
uli, 190,  L.  II.;  power  of  de- 
velopment, 192,  L.  III.;  stimuli 
of,  graded,  197,  (  VII.) ;  more 
easy  with  exercise  of  senses, 
77,  I. 

(335) 


33^ 


INDEX. 


Attribute,  defined,  26. 
Authority,  basis  of  trust  in,  94, 

(11.). 

Body,  development  of  not  in- 
cluded in  science  of  education, 
39,  6 ;  condition  of  affects  the 
mind,  55,  4;  organs  of,  the 
source  of  first  impression,  71, 
L.  I. 

Breadth,  mental,  200;  how  de- 
veloped, 200,  L.  I. ;  see  skill. 

Brevity,  an  aid  to  conservation, 
168. 

Capacity,  differences  in,  78, 
(III.). 

Category,  distinguished  from  uni- 
ty, 138,  7,  et  seq. 

Causes,  kinds  of,  238,  8,  et  seq. ; 
isolation  of,  241,  13. 

Character,  influenced  uncon- 
sciously, ^%obs. ;  formed  early, 
88,  (V.) 

Civilization,  progress  of,  93, 
(I.). 

Classification,  an  act  of  judg- 
ment, 235;  under  general  no- 
tions, 235.  5. 

Cognitions,  defined,  57,  a;  clas- 
sified, 58,  59;  Laws  applied  to 
development  of,  215,  et  seq. 

Complex,  see  simple. 

Concept,  a  priori,  Kant's  ex- 
planation of,  63,  4. 

Concept  and  conception,defined, 
28 ;  developed  through  the 
senses,  71,  L.  I. ;  rules  for  de- 
velopment of,  73;  aided  by  ex- 
actness, 74;  variety  of,  depend- 
ent on  the  senses,  82. 

Conduct,  a  unification  of  volition, 
313,  L.  v.;  the  highest  unifi- 
cation of  mind,  313,  L.  VI. 

Conscience,  its  character,  272, 
(  v.);  its  supreme  importance, 
lb.;  how  developed,  ih. 

Consciousness,  slow  growth  of, 
40;  term  for  in  Latin,  41;  dis- 
tinguished from  mind,  41; 
Hamilton's    definition    of,  41, 


4;  distinguished  from  faculty, 

42,  b ;  expressed  by  the  neuter 
verb,  42,  5,  7;  words  express- 
ing modifications  of,  92,  C, 
(I);  defined,  42,  6;  laws  of, 
86,  et  seq. ;  beginnings  of,  86, 
L.  L;87,  (  11. );  gradually  de- 
veloped, 89,  L.  II.;  limit  of 
development  of,  93,  (2);  deg- 
radation of,  97,  L.  V;  laws  of, 
applied  to  acquisitive  faculty, 
216,  (3). 

Conservation,     by     unification, 

166,  L.  IV. ;  by  classification, 

167,  (  IL);  by  brevity,  168. 
Copula,  represents  consciousness, 

43,  7 ;   modifiers  of,    ib. ;  92, 

(I). 

Corporal  punishment,  the  most 
arbitrary  stimulus  to  activity, 
121. 

Correlation,  applied  to  mental 
energy,  159,  i ;  of  kinetic  en- 
ergy, 160,  L.  I. 

Course  of  studies,  how  devel- 
oped, 330,  c;  not  to  be  thought- 
lessly changed,  331. 

Criticism,  destructive  and  con- 
structive, 158,  (11). 

Curiosity,  nature  of,  188,  (i); 
faults  of,  188,  (2),  (3) ;  methods 
of  treating,  189,  (4). 

Deduction,  31,  c ;  and  induction, 
32,  d;  character  of,  244,  17; 
depends  on  notion  of  causation, 
ib. 

Deductive,  defined,  30. 

Definitions,  when  to  be  given, 
74. 

Degradation,  159,  et  seq.;  from 
incomplete  consciousness,  96, 
(I.),  (II.);  law  of,  97;  through 
the  feelings,  273,  (  VI.)  ;  from 
weak  literature  and  conversa- 
tion, 275;  in  the  direction  of 
least  resistance,  163,  L.  III. ; 
effect  of  indulgence,  169,  L. 
v.;  to  be  opposed,  332,  4; 
shown  historically,  275,  ( IX.). 


INDEX. 


337 


Development,  not  transmission 
of  force,  38,  4;  mental,  cause 
of,  63,  4 ;  key  to  the  science 
of,  ib.;  requires  unity  and  vari- 
ety, 65,  7  ;  beginnings  of,  69, 
2 ;  time  for,  211. 

Discoveries,  dependent  on  new 
discriminations,  130,  (V.). 

Discrimination,  lowest  act  of 
consciousness,  9,  4 ;  126,  L. 
II. ;  127,  L.  III. ;  an  analysis, 
9,  4;  implies  a  unification,  ib. ; 
insures  good  teaching,  122,  i ; 
what  it  is,  122,  2 ;  laws  of, 
123,  et  seq.;  foundation  for, 
123,  L.  I.;  implies  the  power, 
not  the  development  of  unifica- 
tion, 122,  2;  129,  (II.);  rules 
for  development  of,  130,  132; 
useless  without  unification, 
131,  (VI.) ;  accuracy  in,  132; 
direction  of,  148,  (I.);  simple, 
required  for  children,  154; 
see  analysis. 

Discrimination  and  unification, 
laws  of,  applied  to  acquisitive 
faculty,  216,  (4). 

Dissipation,  physical,  165,  (I.); 
mental,  ib. ;  prevention  of, 
166,  (II.);  J^ot  annihilation 
of  force,  218,  i. 

Drill,  use  of,  81,  (VI.) 

Education,  a  development,  7,  2  ; 
36,  3;  43,  9  ;  character  of  evo- 
lution, 66,  9  ;  time  for  extend- 
ed, 43,  9. 

Education,  industrial,  302,(11.) ; 
to  be  broadened  in  scope,  ib.  et 
seq. 

Education,  liberal,  meaning  of, 
330,  c. 

Education,  science  of,  the  sci- 
ence of  a  process,  7,  25 ;  not  a 
psychology,  7,  8 ;  not  physio- 
logical, 38,  5;  mental,  39,  6; 
limits  of,  44,  i. 

Ego,  defined,  34. 

Egoistic  feelings,  255,  (ii). 

Elaborative  faculty,  58,  b. 
S.  E.— 29. 


Empirical,  defined,  30. 
Energy,  kinetic,   159,   i ;  latent, 

44,  i;    159,    i;    developed  in 
accordance    with    fixed    laws, 

45,  2;  vital,  82,  et  seq. 
Energy,  mental,  related  to  vital 

force,  82,  et  seq.;  loss  of,  97; 
conservation  of,  157,  L.  III. ; 
161,  (II.),  (III.);  activity  of, 
accumulated,  160,  (I.). 
Energy,  native,  real,  45,  2;  lim- 
ited, 45,  et  seq. ;    depends    on 
the    senses    for    development, 
48,  L.  V. ;   time   for  develop- 
ment of,  variable,  46,  obs. 
Excitement,  193,  et  seq. 
Exercise,  199,  etseq.;  three  class- 
es of  changes  by,  199,  3  ;  laws 
of,  202,  €t  seq.  ;  applied  to  ac- 
quisitive faculty,  216,  (2) ;  to 
will,  292,  et  seq. 
Expression,  evidence  of  thought, 
105,     (IX.) ;     best    forms    of, 
326. 
Faculties  defined,  26  ;  classifica- 
tion, 57 ;  limitation  of,  206,  L, 
I.,  II.;  sequence  of,  170,  L.  I.; 
172,   L.   II. ;   early  beginning 
of,  171,  (II.). 
Fatalism,  320. 

Feelings,  defined,  57,  b  ;  classi- 
fied, 59,  4;  sequence  of,  60; 
248,  2,  3 ;  late  to  be  recog- 
nized, 248,  2 ;  classifications 
of,  not  satisfactory,  249,  (i); 
classified  in  order  of  depend- 
ence, 249,  et  seq. ;  tabulated, 
252;  organic,  249,  (2);  252, 
(8);  of  the  senses,  250,  (3), 
(9);  contemplative,  250,   (5); 

254,  (10);  practical,  251,  (6); 

255,  (11),  et  seq. ;  lowest  prac- 
tical to  be  stimulated  in  chil- 
dreh,  267,  (II.)  5  practical 
higher  than  contemplative, 
265;  begin  in  pain,  259,  L. 
I.;  depend  on  analysis,  265; 
graded,  264,  L.  II.;  degra- 
dation   of,    273,    (VI.);     275. 


338 


INDEX. 


( IX,) ;  effects  of  exercise,  266, 
L.  III.;  relation  to  will,  268, 
L.  IV.  ;  distinguished  from 
cognitions,  247;  rest  from  in- 
distinctness of,  274. 

Feelings,  ethical,  251,  (7). 

Feelings,  malevolent,  278,  et  seq. 

Generalization,  act  of,  235,  5 ; 
necessary  for  progress,  243, 
16. 

General  law,  development  of, 
62,  et  seg. ;  applied  to  repro- 
duction, 220,  4. 

General  notion,  in  classification, 
235,  5;  inexact,  ib.;  character 
of,  238,  (i)  ;  relations  to  par- 
ticular notions,  238,  (2)  ;  be- 
gins in  obscurity,  237. 

General  term,  how  applied, 
235,  5  ;  relation  of  to  proper 
names,  236,  (3). 

Habits,  hasten  degradation,  169, 
L.  V. ;  of  doing,  to  be  culti- 
vated, 302,  (II). 

Heredity,  49,  et  seq. 

History,  sequence  inferred  from, 
179,(11.) 

Idea,  definition  of  term,  27,  28 ; 
effect  of  new,  167,  (  III.) 

Identification,  62,  3;  see  unifi- 
cation. 

Identity,  personal,  sense  of, 
255,  (12);  feeling  of  not  recog- 
nized,   256;   specialized,  257. 

Image,  defined,  27. 

Imagination,  defined,  58,  c ;  in- 
dividuality of,  229,  L.  I. ; 
concrete,  231,  (  II.) ;  economy 
of,  230,  L.  II.;  value  of,  231, 
(i) ;  aid  to  consciousness,  232, 
L.  III.;  language  of,  232,  (11); 
time  for  development  of,  233, 
(III.) 

Individuality,  characteristic  of 
civilization,  62,  (  IV.) 

Induction,  defined,  26;  method 
of  reasoning,  30;  and  deduc- 
tion, 32,  d;  validity  of,  237, 
8;  based  on  notion  of  causa- 


tion, 238,  8,  et  seq.;  isolation  of, 
causes  in,  241,  13  ;  causes  of 
error  in,  237,  8  ;  certainty  in 
difficult,  242,  14  ;  a  priori  no- 
tions dependent  on,  242,  15; 
essential  to  progress,  243,  16. 

Judgment,  a  classification,  235, 
different  standards  of  applied, 
179,  (I.) 

Kant,  his  theory  of  a  priori  con- 
cepts, 63,  4. 

Kindergarten,  adaptation  of  to 
children,  85. 

Knowledge,  object  of,  43,  8 ; 
love  of,  a  stimulus,  119.  ( I.) ; 
ultimate  nature  of  act,  136,  2  ; 
a  unification,  137,  4;  charac- 
ter of  determined  by  analysis, 
317,  3. 

Language,  to  be  developed  with 
experience,  74,  (  III.)  ;  106, 
(II.);  a  unity,  154,  (  III.);  a 
unification  of  volition,  305,  I ; 
309,  (III.);  law  of  develop- 
ment, 307,  L.  II.;   power  of, 

308,  ( I.);  aid  to  consciousness, 

309,  (II.)  et  seq. 

Laura  Bridgman,  account  of, 
154,  (VII.);  education  of, 
164,  (  XII.);  early  appreciation 
of  approbation  by,  269,  (  I.) ; 
developed  by  use  of  language, 
307. 

Law,  defined,  19,  20;  distin- 
guished from  rule  and  prin- 
ciple, 21,  22. 

Law,  a  general,  needed  for  any 
science,  62,  I  ;  of  education, 
stated,  65. 

Limitations,  205,  et  seq. ;  no 
proof  of  unreality,  206,  (I.); 
how  compensations  are  made, 
207,  (III.);  makes  classifica- 
tions necessary,  208,  (  II.). 

Love,  as  a  feeling,  261,  (7) ; 
258,  (14) ;  the  climax  of  feel- 
ings, 276,  (X.);  degradation 
ofi  276,  (  IX.)  ;  how  devel- 
oped, 277,  (  XI.). 


INDEX. 


339 


Memorizing,  time  and  manner 
of,  221,  ^/  seq. 

Memory,  defined,  59,  e. 

Methods  of  teaching,  improper- 
ly based  on  Psychology,  7,  2  ; 
need  of  a  science  of  mental  de- 
velopment for,  8 ;  flexible,  52, 
(III.);  and  order  of  nature,  94. 

Mind,  activity  of,  37,  d ;  and 
other  forms  of  activity,  37; 
sustained  by  diversity,  81,  L. 
IV. ;  relations  to  vitality,  83 ; 
progress  of  forms  of,  331,  d. 

Moral  character,  permanency  of, 
328,  a. 

Motives,  rational,  stimulate  at- 
tention, 191,  (  II.) ;  opposed 
to  feeling,  192,  ( I.)  ;  perma- 
nent, 191,  (  III.)  ;  196,  (IV.). 

Nature,  order  of,  94. 

Nervous  system,  to  be  cared  for, 
48,  obs, ;  growth  of,  69 ;  or- 
ganization of,  69,  70. 

Notion,  defined,  27. 

Object  and  objective,  defined, 
84. 

Observation,  habits  of  to  be  cul- 
tivated, 75. 

Opportunities,  limited,  209,  L. 
III. ;  lost,  210.  ( II.). 

Order,  liked  by  pupils,  191, 
( I.) ;  rational,  an  aid  to  mem- 
ory, 223,  (I.)  ;  dependent  on 
mental  characteristics,  223, 
(II.) 

Fain,  stimulates  attention,  185, 
(I.);  see  pleasure;  beginning 
of  feelings,  260,  ( I.) ;  obstruc- 
tive, 260,  (II.);  to  be  used 
with  care,  262 ;  as  a  natural 
result,  to  be  presented,  ib. ; 
to  be  followed  by  pleasure, 
263,  (III.). 

Parables,  models  of  adaptation, 
198. 

Pasteur,  his  method  of  investi- 
gation, 241,  13. 

Physiological  relations,  55,  et 
seq. 


Physiology,  distinct  from  men- 
tal science,  69,  2. 

Pleasure  and  pain,  arbitrary,  a 
stimulus,  187. 

Power,  sense  of,  255,  ( 11.) ;  as 
a  motive,  269,  (II.);  in  suc- 
cess, 270. 

Principle,  defined,  18,  19  ;  gen- 
eral, how  developed,  62,  3 ; 
see  law. 

Prizes,  as  a  motive,  270,  (III.). 

Psychology,  7,  2. 

Quality,  defined,  26. 

Questioning,  rules  for,  107,  et 
seq.;  110,  et  seq.;  rules  for, 
112;  illustrations  of,  113,  C; 
Socratic,  illustrated,  115,  et 
seq. 

Questions,  what  leading  are  nec- 
essary, 109,  (II.);  ai"^  of» 
107,  ( III.)  ;  form  of,  ib.  ;  dis- 
crimination in,  107,  R.  I ;  va- 
riety, 107,  R.  2 ;  complete- 
ness of  series,  108,  R.  3, 
(IV.). 

Beal  and  rational,  28. 

Reason,  gives  principles  of  rea- 
soning, 245 ;  order  and  devel- 
opment of,  ib. 

Beasoning,  233,  I,  et  seq. ;  what 
it  is,  234,  2;  act  of,  234,  4; 
see  inductive  and  deductive. 

Recollection,  defined,  58,  d. 

Recreation,  and  rest,  134. 

Reflection,  required  for  unifica- 
tion, 11,  9  ;  156,  (  II.)  ;  Daniel 
Webster  quoted  on,  156,  (II.). 

Reflex  action,  70,  4. 

Religious  feelings,  how  classi- 
fied, 251,  (7). 

Representation,  227,  et  seq. ;  not 
reproduction,  228,  2 ;  uses  of, 

228,  I,    3;    development   of, 

229,  4;  forms  of  interchanged, 

230,  ( I.)  ;  philosophical,  230, 
( 11.) ;  see  imagination. 

Reproduction,  the  proof  of  re- 
tention, 219,  2;  laws  of,  219, 
et  seq.  ;  how  aided,  225,  (I.), 


340 


INDEX. 


etseq.;  sequence  of,  226,  (VI.); 
see  association. 

Besponsibility,  feeling  of,  257, 
(13);  moral  and  commercial, 
ib.;  beginning  of,  258 ;  devel- 
opment of,  ib. ;  its  rank  as  a 
motive,  271,  (  IV.). 

Retention,  out  of  consciousness, 
218,  I  ;  see  reproduction. 

Beviews,  needed  for  memory, 
224,  (  IL). 

Rewards  and  pvmishment,  120, 
(II.). 

Rule,  defined,  18 ;  see  law. 

Science,  need  of  exact  definition 
of,  17;  and  philosophy  and 
art,  17,  et  seq. ;  sequence  of, 
23  ;  stages  of,  23,  24. 

Self-activity,  see  activity,  native. 

Self-concern,  255,  (  II.). 

Belf-consciousness,  late  in  devel- 
opment, 218,  4;  how  devel- 
oped, ib.;  feeling  of  to  be  guard- 
ed against,  282,  (7). 

Senses,  progressively  developed 
in  the  race,  40,  2;  their  nature, 
71,  6;  source  of  distinct  men- 
tal forms,  71,  L.  I,;  need  of 
discrimination,  72,  (I.) ;  source 
of  first  ideas,  73,  (11.);  and 
language,  74,  (III.);  use  of, 
facilitates  activity,  75,  L.  II. ; 
and  abstraction,  77;  and  dis- 
crimination,  123,  L.  I.,  (I.). 

Sequence,  natural,  170;  of  fac- 
ulties, 170,  L.  I. ;  of  studies, 
171,(1.);  173,  ^/j^^.;  of  facts, 
175,  (II.)  J  of  the  simple  and 
complex,  176,  L.  III. ;  of  in- 
dividual, race,  and  national 
development,  177,  L.  IV.  ; 
laws  of  applied  to  will,  290, 
10;  applied  to  acquisitive  fac- 
ulty. 215,  (I.). 

Simple  and  complex,  sequence 
of,  176,  L.  III.  ;  relative,  176, 
( I.) ;  differences  in  individuals 
in  regard  to,  176,(11.);  (III.). 

Skill,   sometimes   great   without 


much  capacity,  78,  ( IV.);  se- 
cured by  drill,  81,  (VII.); 
mental  like  physical,  200;  how 
produced,  203,  L.  III. ;  effect 
of  division  of  labor,  204,  (  II.); 
and  breadth  and  strength;  204, 
(III.). 

Space,  extension,  124,  (IV.); 
position,  124,  ( III.)  ;  concep- 
tions of,  fundamental,  124 ; 
effect  of  on  imagination,  125, 
(V.). 

Strength,  mental  like  physical, 
200,  how  produced,  202,  L. 
II.;203,  (IL). 

Studies,  fundamental,  330. 

Subject  and  subjective,  defined, 
34. 

Sympathy,  danger  of  dissipation 
from,  282;  (8). 

Synthesis,  a  unification,  0,  4; 
a  natural  tendency,  9,  d  seq.; 
14 ;  growth  by,  63,  3  ;  sequence 
of,  128,  (I.);  130,  (IV.);  of 
different  values,  826,  2;  forms 
of  to  be  tested,  323,  et  seq.; 
gives  value  to  analysis,  323,  2  ; 
limits  analysis,  324;  obscure 
in  cognition,  324,  4;  highest 
forms  to  be  aimed  at,  326,  et 
seq.  ;  and  analysis,  not  equally 
recognized,  324,  4  ;  seen  in  ex- 
pression, 325,  5. 

Training,  needed  oftener  than 
genius,  210,  (  I.). 

Travel,  gives  larger  conceptions, 
125. 

Trifles,  perfection  in,  828. 

Truth,  defined,  28. 

Unconscions  tuition,  63,  et  seq.  ; 
foundation  for  activity,  53,  L. 
I.;  and  character,  54,  L.  II.; 
influence  of  not  easily  distin- 
guished from  heredity,  53; 
early,  54,  obs. ;  source  of  re- 
finement, 55,  obs. 

Unification,  a  synthesis,  9,  4; 
a  natural  tendency,  li^.,  etseq.; 
156,   (I.);  requires  time,  11> 


INDEX. 


341 


9;  requires  attention,  12,  10; 
laws  of,  75,  et  seq.  ;  difference 
in  powers  of,  78,  (III.),  (  V.) ; 
unnatural  not  to  be  cultivated, 
80 ;  facility  in,  needed  in  busi- 
ness, 80,  (VI.);  false,  135, 
(II.);  imperfect  with  children, 
133,  (III.);  basis  of  discrim- 
ination, 121,  2;  136,  l;  145, 
L.  I.;  defined,  137,  3;  con- 
serves energy,  157,  L.  III.  ; 
166,  167;  see  synthesis. 

Unit  and  unity  distinguished, 
138,  6. 

Unities  of  thought,  higher  than 
sensation,  65,  8;  distinguished 
from  units,  138,  6;  from  cate- 
gories, 138,  7  et  seq.;  devel- 
oped gradually,  142,  et  seq.; 
value  of  higher,  144,  18;  nat- 
ural, 148,  et  seq.;  factitious, 
150,  et  seq.;  arrangement  of  for 
instruction,  152,  et  seq,  ;  lan- 
guage, 154,  (  VII.) ;  values  of 
differ,  326,  2;  highest,  326, 
et  seq.  ;  how  determined,  328, 

3. 
Variety,  necessary  for  children, 


84,  (II.);  132,  (I.);  see  dis- 
crimination. 

Volitions,  defined,  57,  <:;  grades 
of,  299,  L.  11. ;  motives  of  va- 
rious, 299,  (I.);  worst  mo- 
tives not  pressed  too  far,  300, 
(  II.)  ;  development  of  to  com- 
pleteness, 301,  L,  III.;  charac- 
ter of  determined  by  analysis, 
319,  5;  obscurity  of  analysis 
in,  324,4. 

Volitions,    rational,    nature    of, 

289,  9 ;  late  in   development, 

290,  291 ;  degraded  when  not 
complete,  297,  (II.) ;  see  will. 

"Will,  286,  et  seq.  ;  distinguished 
from  feeling,  61;  sequence  of, 
61,  6;  296,  L.  I.;  breadth, 
strength,  and  facility,  292,  i  ; 
the  highest  power,  302,  (  I.)  ; 
forms  of  unities  of,  305,  et 
seq. ;  freedom  of,  320,  321 ; 
self-determining  power  of,  284, 
I ;  not  duly  considered  in  edu- 
cation, 285,  2;  directs  atten- 
tion, 162,  obs. 

"Wonder,  beginning  of  contem- 
plative feelings,  254,  (10). 


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With  either  single  or  double  lines,  24  pp.,  same  size  and  same  paper  as  Eclectic 
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NEW  HAND-BOOK  OF  ECLECTIC  PENMANSHIP. 

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SAMPLE-BOOK  OF  ECLECTIC  PENMANSHIP, 

Containing  nearly  200  copies,  selected  from  all  the  Copy-Books  in  the  Series, 
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ECLECTIC  EDUCATIONAL  SERIES. 

Published  by  VAN  ANTWERP,  BRAGG  &  CO.,  Cincinnati  and  New  York. 

THE  ECLECTIC  GERMAN   SERIES. 

Equal  in  merit  to  McGuffey's  Revised  Readers,  fully  illustrated  by  the  first 
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ECLECTIC  GERMAN   PRIMER. 

96  pp.     Price,  20  cents  ;  postage  and  mailing,  4  cents. 

The  Primer  is  arranged  according  to  the  Analytic  Synthetic  Method;  it 
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sons of  the  Second  part  are  done  in  a  superior  style. 

ECLECTIC  GERMAN  FIRST  READER. 

112  pp.     Price,  25  cents;   postage  and  mailing,  5  cents. 

The  First  Reader  continues  the  plan  of  the  Primer.  The  dialogue,  a  feature 
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the  reading  lesson.  In  this  book  exercises  on  Language,  Composition,  and 
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books  of  the  series. 
ECLECTIC  GERMAN  SECOND  READER. 

144  pp.     Price,  35  cents ;  postage  and  mailing,  6  cents. 

The  Second  Reader  contains  descriptions  and  stories  which  are  strictly 
adapted  to  the  wants  of  American  pupils,  and  are  confined  to  subjects  with 
which  children  are  familiar.  The  Language  and  Translation  Exercises  begun 
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to  which  they  constantly  refer.  Composition  is  encouraged  by  a  number  of 
models  in  the  form  of  reading  lessons. 
ECLECTIC  GERMAN   THIRD  READER. 

191  pp.     Price,  42  cents ;  postage  and  mailing,  7  cents. 

The  Third  Reader  contains  choice  poetry,  stories,  descriptions,  and  dia- 
logues, interesting  to  American  children.  The  Language  Exercises  in  this 
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jectives and  personal  pronouns,  the  various  tenses  and  derivative  nouns  and 
adjectives. 
ECLECTIC  GERMAN  FOURTH  READER. 

272  pp.     Price,  60  cents ;  postage  and  mailing,  10  cents. 

The  Fourth  Reader  is  so  arranged  that  it  may  be  used  during  two  years,  if 
wished.  History  and  Biography  are  introduced,  and  are  illustrated  by  striking 
cuts  and  portraits.  A  number  of  German-American  authors  are  represented 
by  their  best  ])roductions.  The  vocabulary  is  arranged  alphabetically  at  the 
end  of  the  book,  so  as  to  train  the  pupils  in  the  use  of  the  dictionary. 

ECLECTIC  GERMAN  FIFTH  READER. 

pp.     Price,  ;  postage  and  mailing, 

The  Fifth  Reader  is  a  complete  classical  reader,  representing  the  best  Ger- 
man and  German-American  Literature  in  Poetry  and  Prose.  Care  has  been 
taken,  however,  not  to  go  beyond  such  matter  as  can  easily  be  grasped  by  pu- 
pils of  the  seventh  and  eighth  school  year. 

A  number  of  essays  on  German  and  German-American  Literature,  pre- 
pared for  the  book  by  the  best  German  educators  of  the  country,  short  expla- 
nations of  the  different  kinds  of  Poetry  and  Prose,  sketches  of  the  lives  of  all 
and  portraits  of  thirteen  of  the  authors  represented,  render  the  use  of  a  sepa- 
rate book  on  German  Literature  unnecessary. 


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